194 GRAMINEAE. [ Poa. 
glumes oblong-ovate, obtuse, 5-nerved, smooth or rarely minutely scaberu- 
lous on the keel, callus and lower part of keel and margins with long crisped 
woolly hairs. Palea about ? the length of the glume, silky on the keels. 
Anthers long, linear.—Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 905. P. anceps 
var. minima Buch, N.Z. Grasses (1880) f. 46F. 
Lr. « > 6st Cee. wt G r Treat » & a ’ 
SourH Istanp: Wet places in mountain districts, from the Wairau Valley, Nelson, 
to the south of Otago. Stewart Isuanp: TJ. Kirk! Cockayne. Sea-level to 5000 ft. 
I am greatly puzzled with this species. Forms very closely resembling Berggren’s 
plate and description are not uncommon in subalpine localities in the South Island, 
but they appear to pass insensibly into a larger lowland state, with a more developed 
panicle and larger spikelets. This in its turn approaches so near to P. seticulmis that 
it is difficult to draw a strict line of demarcation between the two plants. 
13. P. Aucklandica Petrie in Subantarct. Is. N.Z. ii (1909) 478.— 
Culms slender, tufted, branched from the base, 4-6in. high. Leaves 
equalling the culms, soft and flaccid, narrow-linear, setaceous above, acute ; 
sheaths long, much broader than the blades, fissured to the base, strongly 
grooved, quite glabrous; ligules oblong, membranous, lacerate. Panicle 
short, 2-2} in. long, broadly ovate, lax, few-flowered; branches few, very 
slender, scaberulous. Spikelets long-pedicelled, large for the size of the 
plant, $-jin. long, broadly ovate, compressed, 4-5-flowered. Two outer 
glumes nearly equal, about 4 the length of the spikelet, ovate-lanceolate, 
acute, 3-nerved. Flowering glumes ovate, acute, 5-nerved, the central 
nerve often slightly excurrent, glabrous, or with a few crisped hairs on 
the callus. Palea shorter than the flowering glume, linear-oblong; keels 
ciliate. | 
AUCKLAND IsLANDS: Hills above Carnley Harbour, B.C. Aston! CAMPBELL ISLAND: 
R. M, Laing. 
The only specimens I have seen are few and imperfect and quite insufficient for 
a proper understanding of the species. Its nearest ally appears to be P. dipsacea. 
14. P. dipsacea Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvi (1894) 271.—Culms erect 
from an often long and branched creeping and rooting base, stout or slender, 
smooth, leafy, 6-18in. high. Leaves usually shorter than the culms, 
narrow, involute or complicate, quite smooth and glabrous, deeply striate ; 
sheaths rather loose, pale, deeply grooved ; ligules short, broad, submem- 
branous. Panicle 2-5in. long, broadly ovate, lax, few-flowered ; rhachis 
smooth; branches usually in distant pairs, simple or forked, smooth, capillary, 
bearing few large spikelets towards the tips. Spikelets long-pedicelled, 
elliptic-ovate, compressed, greenish-brown, about $in. long, 4-8-flowered. 
Two outer glumes unequal, almost as long as the flowering glumes imme- 
diately above them, lanceolate, acute, membranous, smooth or finely scabrid 
on the upper part of the keel. Flowering glumes ovate, obtuse or sub- 
acute, rather membranous, prominently 5-nerved, callus and lower part of 
the keel and margins with long silky hairs, upper part of keel sharply scabrid, 
surface and nerves in the upper half minutely scaberulous. Palea shorter 
than the glume, keels ciliate. Anthers long, linear—Cheesem. Man. N.Z. 
Fl, (1906) 906; Ill. N.Z. Fl. ii (1914) t. 230. 
Soutu Istanp: Nelson—Raglan Range, 7. F.C. Canterbury—Wet places near 
the sources of the Broken River, Petrie / 7. F.C. ; Craigieburn Mountains, Cockayne / 
Mount Peel, H. H. Allan! 3000-5000 ft. 
This seems to be a distinct species, recognized without much difficulty by the long 
decumbent bases of the culms, very lax few-flowered panicle, and large spikelets clustered 
at the tips of the branchlets, Depauperated states approach P. pusilla, but are easily 
oO coal by the larger spikelets and more distinctly nerved scaberulous flowering 
glumes. 
