Order GRAMINEHL 
Genus Isachne, Brown, 
Sub-Order Panicete. 
Genus VIII.—ISACHNE, Brown, 
Spikelets pankled, 2-flowered, lower flower usually male, upper hermaphrodite. Empty glumes a, 
nearly equal, often deciduous. Flowering glumes nearly equal, the fertile glume hardening and 
including the palea and grain. Palea nearly as large as the glumes, also hardening. Scales 2. 
Stamens 3. Ovary linear. Grain free within the hardened glume and palea. Distribution of 
Genus : TROPICAL AND SUB-TROPICAL CLIMATES. Etymology, from two Greek words 
signifying “ equal ” and a “ glume.” 
1.—ISACHNE AUSTRALIS. 
EQUAL-GLUMED MILLET. 
(Plate XII.) 
Isachne australis, Brown. Hook fil., FI. N.Z., I., 291 ; Handb. N.Z. Flora, I., 324. 
% 
A tufted grass, usually on swampy land. Flowers December—January. Perennial. Root fibrous. 
Stems 6—18 inches high; slender, decumbent, and creeping at the base. Leaves scaberulous, 3—5 
inches long, J—J-inch broad, flat; mouth of the sheath with silky hairs. Panicle erect, ovoid, 1—2 
inches long, lax, branches long, flexuous, sparingly divided. Spikelets few, pedicelled, obtuse, -|-inch 
long. Empty glumes glabrous, 11- and 9-nerved. Flowering glumes : lower, sessile, glabrous, 5-nerved, 
Palea 2-nerved; upper, stipitate, pubescent, 5-nerved, Palea 2-nerved. Scales truncate. Anthers 
large. Ovary glabrous. Styles very'long. Stigmas penicillate, shorter than the styles. Distribution 
of Species : INDIA, CHINA, AUSTRALIA, NE"W ZEALAND. 
Little is known of this grass in New Zealand, except in the District of Auckland, where, according 
to Kirk, it is abundant in swampy places, and is greedily eaten by all kinds of stock. So valuable a 
grass is worthy of attention by settlers, and, although it might not thrive in the colder parts of 
the colony, it could, no doubt, be extended over a larger area of the North Island than that to which 
it is at present restricted. IVIany of our most valuable indigenous grasses have a \ ery limited distribu¬ 
tion, while their cultivation is much neglected, a preference being given to exotic species, apparently 
from the greater facility with which their seed can be procured by purchase. The difficulty in procuring 
seeds of our native grasses will not be overcome until a few enterprising settlers commence their 
cultivation chiefly for the sale of seed, which would certainly prove remunerative. Distribution in 
New Zealand: NORTH ISLAND, BAY OF ISLANDS—A. Cunningham; AUCKLAND— 
Sinclair; LAKE TAUPO-Colenso; ISTHMUS OF AUCKLAND, THAMES, NORTH 
CAPE to WAIKATO, &c.—Kirk. 
Reference to Plate XII.: Fig. 1. Plant. 2. Spikelet. 3. Staminiferous floret. 4. Fertile floret. 
5. Palea of fertile floret. 6, 6'. Nervation of empty glumes. 7. Nervation of flowering glumes. 
8. Nervation of Paleae. 9. Scales. 10. Ovary, &c. 
