Order GRAMINEiE. 
Genus Poa. 
Sub-Order Festucace^e. 
7—POA ACICULARIFOLIA, n.s. 
NEEDLE-LEAVED POA. 
(Plate XL IX. A .) 
A small, tufted alpine grass, with wiry creeping roots, at 5000 feet altitude. Flowers January— 
March. Perennial. Culms 3—6 inches high, very slender, capillary. Leaves JJ inch long, rigid, 
with acicular tips, sheaths short; Jigule short, sheathing, membranous. Panicle \—f inch long, 
triangular, of 3—4 capillary spreading branches, each bearing 1 broad flat spikelet. Spikelets ^ inch 
long, 2-flowered. Empty glumes ovate-acuminate, obtuse, 3-nerved. Flowering glume ovate-oblong, 
obtuse, 5-nerved, scabridous, and villous on the back. Falea 2-fid, 2-nerved. Scales oblique, acute* 
Anthers long. Distribution of Species : NEW ZEALAND. 
This peculiar little plant has previously been considered as only a variety of Foa Colensoi , to 
which it bears a general resemblance, but differing in the short, rigid, acicular leaves, fewer-flowered 
spikelets, and shorter anthers, and presenting a remarkably alpine character. It may be considered as a 
rare plant, although pretty widely distributed, and from its short rigid foliage must rank very low as a 
pasture plant; it may therefore be relegated to the herbarium, as an interesting botanical curiosity. 
Distribution in New Zealand : NORTH ISLAND : TARARUA MOUNTAINS (5000 feet) 
—J. Mitchell, H. H. Travers. SOUTH ISLAND : NELSON MOUNTAINS (5000 feet)—H. H. 
Travers; MOUNT ARTHUR (4200 feet) and MOUNT COOK (6000 feet)—A. Mackay; 
CANTERBURY MOUNTAINS—Kirk; Enys—Armstrong. 
Reference to Plate XLIX. A: 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. 
