Deschampsia. | GRAMINEAE. 167 
Sout Isnanp: Canterbury—Arthur’s Pass, 7. Kirk/ Otago—Clinton Saddle, 
Petrie! Milford Sound, 7. Kirk! Srewart Istanp: Mount Anglem, Cockayne. 
AUCKLAND AND CAMPBELL ISLANDS, ANTIPODES ISLAND, MACQUARIE ISLAND: Hooker, 
T. Kirk! F. R. Chapman! H. Hamilton ! Sea-level to 3500 ft. 
Very close to the following species, of which it may prove to be a variety, and from 
which it is mainly separated by the glabrous rhachilla and rather larger spikelets. 
5. D. tenella Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxiii (1891) 402.— Culms 
tufted, branched at the base, extremely slender, flaccid, quite smooth, 
leafy throughout, 6-14 in. high. Leaves bright-green, very narrow, capillary, 
involute, flaccid, the uppermost often exceeding the young panicle ; sheaths 
smooth, grooved ; ligules long, acute, membranous, broader than the blade 
and decurrent along the margins of the sheaths. Panicle very slender, 
2-6in. long, contracted at first, but becoming lax and somewhat effuse ; 
branches in pairs, few, rather distant, capillary, scabrid, trichotomously 
divided. Spikelets few towards the tips of the branches, small, 5 1n. 
long, pale, glistening, 2-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, much shorter 
than the spikelet, membranous, 1-nerved or the upper 3-nerved ; 3rd and 
4th or flowering glumes broadly oblong, delicately hyaline, faintly 5-nerved, 
silky at the base, truncate at the apex and 3-toothed, the middle tooth often 
bifid, the 4th always with a minute dorsal awn inserted just below the apex, 
the 3rd frequently awnless. Palea bifid, 2-nerved, the nerve finely ciliate. 
Rhachilla elongated between the flowering glumes and more or less silky, 
produced above the upper flower into a silky bristle—Cheesem. Man. N.Z. 
Fl. (1906) 878; Ill. N.Z. Fl. ii (1914) t. 224. D. Hookeri 7. Kirk in Journ. 
Bot. xxiv (1891) 237 (in part). Catabrosa antarctica Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. 
i (1853) 308 pout not of Fl. Antarct.i, 102); Buch. N.Z. Gr gses (1879) t. 418. 
eric “T z :IQor:.s2ze cletbennw VU.” larger 
Vay proce tm Lmrns, § 
——NortH IstAnp: Ruahine Mountains, Colenso! Tararua Mountains, H. H. Travers / 
3 
Petrie! SoutaIstanp: Nelson—Mount Arthur, A. McKay! Otago—Near Dunedin, 
Catlin’s River, Clinton Saddle, Petrie / Sea-level to 4500 ft. 
This differs from both D. novae-zealandiae and D. Chapmani in the silky rhachilla, 
and from the former in addition in the dorsal awn being present in at least the upper 
flower. It varies greatly in the size of the spikelets and in the proportionate length 
of the outer glumes. Mr. Petrie’s original specimens from Catlin’s River have the 
spikelets barely more than ,}, in. long, and the upper outer giume is not half the length 
of the spikelet; but those from the Clinton Valley, and Mr. Colenso’s from the Ruahine 
Range, have much larger spikelets with longer outer glumes. 
6. D. gracillima 7. Kirk in Journ. Bot. xxiv (1891) 237.—Culms tufted, 
usually with intravaginal branches near the base, erect, slender, glabrous, 
2-8in. high. Leaves towards the base of the culms and much shorter 
than them, strict, erect, very narrow, setaceous or filiform, convolute ; 
sheaths rather lax, grooved ; ligules long, membranous, usually split at the 
tip. Panicle erect, ovate or deltoid, open, #-2in. long; branches few, 
- binate, capillary, smooth or almost so. Spikelets 4-in. long, on pedicels 
longer than themselves, 2-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, 3-nerved, 
shorter than the spikelet; 3rd and 4th or flowering glumes densely silky 
at the base, oblong, membranous, 5-nerved, truncate at the tip and 3- 
toothed, the middle tocth entire or bifid or irregularly erose, the 3rd awn- 
less or very obscurely awned, the 4th usually with a minute dorsal awn 
inserted just below the tip. Palea linear-oblong, bifid, 2-nerved, nerves 
finely ciliate. Rhachilla elongated between the flowering glumes and 
densely silky, produced above the upper flower into a long silky bristle.— 
Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 878. 
AucKLAND IsLAnps: Carnley Harbour, altitude 1000 ft., 7. Kirk! B. C. Aston! 
The densely tufted habit, short strict erect leaves, deltoid few-flowered panicle, 
large spikelets, and densely hairy rhachilla distinguish this from all its allies. 
