Order OR AM IN E/E. 
Genus Poa. 
Sub-Order Festucace/e. 
3.— FOA ANCEPS, Yak. ft foliosa. 
COMMON FIELD POA. 
(Plate XL IF. B.) 
Poa anceps, Forst. Var. B., foliosa, Hook, fil., FI. N.Z., I., 306. 
Poa anceps, Forst. Var. B., foliosa, Hook, fil., Handb. N.Z. FI., I., 339. 
A smaller tufted grass than the last, with sometimes prostrate branching stems. Perennial. Found 
from sea-level to 5000 feet altitude. Culms erect, 1—2 feet high. Leaves distichous, strict, shorter 
than the culm, —-J- inch broad. Panicle contracted, 2—8 inches long, erect, branches in distant 
pairs, short, capillary. Spikelets few, \ inch long, flat, 3—4-flowered, finely scabridous, green. Empty 
glumes 3-nerved. Flowering glume 5-nerved, and tufted at the base, with long flocculent silky 
hairs. Palea 2-fid, 2-nerved. Scale narrow, acute. Anthers long. Grain narrow. Distribution of 
Var. B : NEW ZEALAND. 
This is perhaps the most abundant and wide-spread grass in New Zealand, and in all the varying 
circumstances under which it is found retaining its distinguishing characters. It possesses a great power 
of adaptation to varieties of soil and climate, being often found struggling under the most adverse 
circumstances of poverty, on dry barren ground. From a recent collection of grasses made by Mr. A. 
Mackay on Mount Arthur, it appears that the maximum growth of certain grasses, among which the 
present is prominent, is at altitudes of 3000—4000 feet, where a temperate climate and abundant moisture 
prevail during summer. Under such favourable circumstances the tufted habit disappears, and a close 
heavy growth, 18—24-inches high, is found, which might easily be mistaken for a cultivated crop. The 
pasture of these upland table-lands, which are covered by snow during six months of the year, is for 
variety of species and bulk of growth unequalled at lower levels. This grass may be placed as one of 
the most valuable in New Zealand, for, although a few others may prove more nutritious, it resists better 
the exterminating effects of both drought and fire, thus insuring a certain amount of permanent pasture. 
Distribution in New Zealand: FOUND EVERYWHERE BETWEEN SEA-LEVEL 
AND 5000 FEET ALTITUDE. 
Reference to Plate XLIV. B : Fig. 1. Plant. 2. Spikelet. 3. Floret. 4,4'. Nervation of empty 
glumes. 5. Nervation of flowering glume. 6. Nervation of Palea. 7. Scale. 8, 8'. Grain, front 
and side views. 
