Order GRAMINEiE. 
Genus Gymnostichum. 
Sub-Order Hordeack* 
Genus XXVI.—GYMNOSTICHUM, Schreber. 
Spikelets spiked, sessile, alternate on a flattened rachis, 1—3-flowered. Empty glumes wanting or 
reduced to a pair of flat bristles. Flowering glume acute or awned, seated on a thickened callus. 
Palea 2-nerved, nerves ciliate at the back. Scales 2-lobed, ciliate. Ovary crowned on the top with a 
mass of glutinous hairs. Styles apparently remote at the base. Grain linear. Distribution op 
Genus: NORTH AMERICA, NEW ZEALAND. Etymology: From two Greek words, “ naked ’’ 
and “ a rank,” in reference to the absence of glumes. 
1.—GYMNOSTICHUM GRACILE. 
SLENDER GLUMELESS GRASS. 
{Plate LVIIJ.) 
Gymnostichum gracile, Hook, fil., FI. N.Z., I., 312, t. 70. 
Gymnostichum gracile, Hook, fil., Plandb. N.Z. FI., I., 343. 
A tall slender grass with prostrate branching stems. Perennial. From sea-level to 2000 feet altitude. 
Culms slender, 2—4 feet high. Leaves narrow, flat, smooth or rough; sheaths smooth, often 
membranous; ligule o. Spike 4—8 inches long, slender, inclined, rachis flat, flexuose, edges ciliate. 
Spikelets- 20—30, sessile, alternate, J—f inch long with the awns, 1—3-flowered. Empty glumes o, or 
replaced by 2 persistent bristles, or narrow, rigid, 1-nerved glumes ; florets 1—3, lower pedicelled ; upper 
floret generally imperfect, each with a callus at its base. Empty glumes or bristles 1-nerved. Floivering 
glume 5-nerved, scabrid; awn short. Palea obtuse, ciliate at top. Scales 2-lobed, ciliate. Ovary 
crowned with a mass of glutinous hairs, which scales of from the ripe grain. Styles united at the base. 
Distribution of Species : NEW ZEALAND. 
A variable grass, found near bush or in sheltered places. It is usually prostrate and straggling, 
numerously branched, and with the leaves often springing from knotted articulations. When in flower 
the empty glumes are frequently absent, but they are sometimes represented by a pair of rigid-looking 
