210 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
—In several species of grasses, a peculiar growth has been 
found, which upon examination reveals the fact that the 
glumes of the spikelets are transformed into small leafy shoots, 
which are provided at the base with the beginnings of roots. 
This peculiar growth is quite common in Europe on certain 
species of grasses, and was described by Sinclair, in his Hor- 
tus Gramineus Woburnensis (1825) p. 260, as ‘“‘Viviparous 
Growth.”’ 
Some specimens of Festuca growing at the Hawkes- 
bury Agricultural College, Richmond, were collected some 
few years ago by Mr. C. T. Musson, and quite recently I 
found a plant of Festuca ovina in the Botanic Gardens, Syd- 
ney, with this peculiar growth, and have succeeded in get- 
ting a series of specimens in all stages of development, show- 
ing the minute -plantlet taken fresh from the inflorescence, 
and another which had been placed on damp soil with the 
rootlets just developed, and others which had been left in the 
damp soil, developed into fine plants. 
Another extremely interesting specimen, showing this 
peculiar growth, was forwarded to me from Dalgety, in 1911, 
by Mr. H. Kelly. 
The latter specimen appears to be Agrostis vulgaris, but 
as the inflorescence was wholly transformed into these leafy 
shoots, and not a single perfect flower could be found, it is 
very difficult to determine the plant definitely. Mr. F. Man- 
son Bailey, Colonial Botanist of Queensland, has also record- 
ed this peculiar development in Sporobolus Benthami, found 
in Queensland. 
Variation in the Kangaroo Grass.—The ‘‘Kangaroo 
Grass’’ is familiar to very many people in Australia, especi- 
ally to the pastoralists, as it is generally considered by them 
to be one of the most useful species of our indigenous grasses. 
If we examine the specimens of this grass found in the neigh- 
bourhood of Sydney, we will find that they are more slender, 
and that the leaf-sheaths and  involucral spikelets are per- 
fectly glabrous, whereas specimens on the tablelands in the 
neighbourhood of Hill Top, Colo, and Mittagong, have the 
leaf-sheaths, and involucral spikelets, and in some specimens 
the leafy bracts also, all more or less covered with tubercle- 
based. bristles. 
This difference may be regarded by some botanists as 
insufficient for specific differences, while others would estab- 
lish a species on the evidence submitted above. 
It is interesting to note, however, that the seedlings 
raised from each kind, and grown in the same soil at Hill Top, 
have developed the same characteristics as the parent forms. 
In Bentham’s Flora Australiensis, there are two species 
recorded, namely, Anthistiria ciliata and A. frondosa. 
It has been pointed out by Dr. Otto Stapf, that the 4, 
