Order GRAMINEZE. 
Genus Poa. 
Suo-Order Festucace/e. 
8 .— POA UMFLORA, n.s. 
ONE-FLOWERED POA. 
(Plate XL 1 X. B.) 
Poa affinis, R. Brown. Var. B. Agrostoidea, FI. N.Z., I., 307. 
A tufted, glabrous, sub-alpine grass, ascending to 4,200 feet. Flowers December — March 
Perennial. Culms 12—20 inches high, glabrous. Leaves brownish green, shorter than the culms, flat 
A, inch broad; sheaths striated ; ligule long, acute. Panicle elongate, narrow, of few short branches 
Spikelets small, 1-flowered. Empty glumes glabrous, very short, obtuse, largest 3-nerved. Flowering 
glume glabrous, elongate, obtuse, 3-nerved. Palea 2-fid, 2-nerved. Scales oblique, acute. Anthers 
long stout. Distribution of Species : NEW ZEALAND. 
The present species, recently discovered by Mr. A. Mackay, of the Geological Survey, may at once 
be distinguished from all other New Zealand species of Poa, by its one-flowered spikelets ; while its 
bulk and succulent habit will recommend it as a valuable addition to the pasture grasses of New 
Zealand. Numerous specimens of several other genera were also collected at the same time, chiefly on 
the Mount Arthur range of mountains, at an elevation or 4000 3000 feet. In e\ery case these specimens 
showed a luxuriant growth, proving the existence of a rich and varied pasture, combined with a bulk 
unusual at such high altitudes; several species attaining a height of 3—4 feet. The presence of a 
limestone formation and abundant moisture explains this remarkable growth. Such localities are, no 
doubt, well adapted for grazing purposes during the summer, and might even be utilized to the extent 
of dairy farming, as practised on the European Alps, where the cows are driven up the valleys in 
spring, and removed, with the produce of the season m the form of cheese and butter, on the approach 
of winter. Roads, however, must necessarily be formed before anything but stock for fattening 
purposes can be driven in such localities. Distribution of Species in New Zealand : MOUNT 
ARTHUR (4200 feet altitude)—A. Mackay. 
Reference to Plate XLIX. B: Fig. 1. Plant. 2. Spikelet. 3, 3. Nervation of empty glumes. 
4. Nervation of flowering glume. 5. Nervation of Palea. 6. Scale. 7, 7'. Grain, front and side 
views. 
