Order GRAMINEZE. 
Genus Agrostis. 
Sub-Order Agrostideal 
AGROSTIS PARVIFLORA. 
SLENDER BENT GRASS. 
{Plate XX. C .) 
Agrostis parviflora, Brown. Hook, fil., Flora Tasmania, II., 113, t. 158 b. 
Agrostis parviflora, Brown. Hook, fil., FI. N.Z., I., 296; Handb. N.Z. Flora, I., 328. 
A slender, tufted, glabrous grass, 6—12 inches high, ascending to 3000 feet altitude. Flowers 
January—February. Perennial. Leaves narrow, flat or involute, scabrid on the edges; ligule oblong, 
truncate, lacerate. Panicle 3—5 inches long, of few short capillary scabrid branches, opposite or 3-nate. 
Spikelets ~— 1 -inch long, slender, narrow. Empty glumes nearly equal, spreading, glabrous, scabrid on 
the keel, 1-nerved ; inner glume with two short lateral nerves. Flowering glume truncate, 5-nerved; 
awn (when present) dorsal, very short. Pcilea o. Scales linear-oblong, tapering to a sharp point. 
Ovary oblong. Styles very short. Stigmas short, feathery. Distribution of Species: AUS¬ 
TRALIA, TASMANIA, NEW ZEALAND. 
A valuable grass, common on the upland pastures of the South Island, also found at lower levels 
in both Islands. It is sometimes confounded with Agrostis canina, with which it is often associated, 
and from which it may be best distinguished by its more slender constricted panicle and few narrow 
spikelets. The abundance of both species may be best observed when they are in flower, which is 
generally late in the season, when most of the other grasses have ceased growing, thus providing 
abundance of food when most required. Species of Agrostis occupy a prominent place everywhere in 
the pastures of temperate and cold climates, but their adoption in cultivation has generally been 
unpopular with agriculturists, from their proving very inconstant in bulk and nutrient value. This 
defect, to a great extent, is, no doubt, occasioned by the great susceptibility of these grasses to the 
influence of differences in soil, heat, and moisture. Variation in species from this cause may also be 
accepted as an important element of difference in value, superior varieties being sometimes produced, 
of which the well-known Fiorin, Agrostis alba, may be cited as an example. A comparison of the slight 
difference in structural form which may exist between two grasses, while yet differing considerably in 
value as food, may be made between the species now under notice, — Agrostis parviflora , a grass of a 
delicate succulent habit, and Agrostis canina, one more harsh and much less succulent, and of which 
the first is probably only a variety. The value of the Agrostis family in pasture has been very logically 
argued by Cuthbert W. Johnson, in his “ Farmers’ Encyclopedia,” where, under the article “ Agrostis ,” 
he says, “There has been much prejudice existing against the different species of Agrostis in general, 
but let the proprietor of a rich ancient pasture divest a part of it of these grasses entirely, and the value 
of the plants will be demonstrated in the comparative loss of late and early herbage.” Distribution 
in New Zealand : NORTH ISLAND: SHORES OF COOK STRAIT—Colenso. SOUTH 
ISLAND: NELSON—H. H. Travers; CANTERBURY—Armstrong; OTAGO LAKE DIS¬ 
TRICT—Hector and Buchanan; SOUTHLAND-Buchanan. 
Reference to Plate XX.: Fig. iC. Plant. 2. Spikelet. 3. Floret. 4. Nervation of empty 
glumes. 5. Nervation of flowering glume. 6. Scale. 7. Ovary, pistil, and stamens. 
