196 GRAMINEAE. [ Poa. 
rather rigid, smooth, leafy. Leaves usually shorter than the culms, narrow, 
gz—tin. broad, erect, rather coriaceous, tapering to a stiff acute point, 
flat or concave, smooth, striate ; sheaths compressed, lax, grooved ; ligules 
a transverse band of short stiff white hairs. Panicle 14-3 in. long, linear- 
oblong to ovate-oblong, rather dense ; branches few, usually binate, short, 
slender, capillary, scabrid-ciliate. Spikelets ovate or oblong-ovate, com- 
pressed, pale-green or purplish, }-4in. long, 4-5-flowered. Two outer 
glumes slightly unequal, about 4 the length of the spikelet, oblong- 
lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, scabrid on the keel. Flowering-glumes oblong- 
ovate, obtuse or subacute, prominently 5-nerved, minutely scaberulous 
on the surfaces and nerves, keel usually strongly scabrid, callus and lower 
part of keel and margins with sparse crisped woolly hairs. Palea about 
as long as the glume, bidentate, strongly ciliate on the keels. Anthers long, 
linear.—Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 907. 
CHATHAM IsLANDS: Abundant in Sphagnum swamps, fF. A. D. Cox! Cockayne! 
Closely allied to P. anceps, but sufficiently distinct in the creeping rhizome, more 
coriaceous erect leaves, ligule composed of short stiff hairs, and short dense panicle 
with few branches and rather large spikelets. 
18. P. eaespitosa Forst. f. Prodr. (1786) n. 498-—Culms densely tufted, 
forming compact tussocks, pale yellowish-green, slender, erect, smooth 
and polished, 1-3 ft. high. Leaves longer or shorter than the culms, very 
narrow, often filiform, usually with the margins strongly involute so that 
the leaf is nearly terete, rarely flat, strict, wiry, erect, pungent, smooth 
and polished; sheaths long, smooth and shining; ligules almost obsolete, 
reduced to a narrow transverse rim. Panicle 2—9in. long, broad or narrow, 
lax; branches few, in distant whorls or clusters, or in small specimens 
binate or solitary, sparingly divided, spreading, capillary, scabrid. Spike- 
lets pale-green, about +in. long, 3-6-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, 
about 3 the length of the flowering glumes above them, ovate-lanceolate, 
acute, membranous, 3-nerved, smooth or scabrid on the keel. Flowering 
glumes oblong-lanceolate to oblong-ovate, subacute or obtuse, prominently 
5-nerved, minutely scaberulous, callus and base of keel with a tuft of long 
crisped silky hairs. Palea rather shorter than the glume, minutely ciliate 
on the keels. Anthers linear, about 4, in. long.—A. Cunn. Precur. (1836) 
n. 264; Raoul Chow (1846) 39; Benth. Fl. Austral. vu (1878) 651; 
Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 907. P. australis var. laevis Hook. f. 
Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 339; Buch. N.Z. Grasses (1880) t. 47. P. laevis 
var. filifolia Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. 1 (1853) 3807. 
Var. leioclada Hack. in Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 908.— Panicle-branches 
smooth. Spikelets larger, 4in. long or more. yf ttn * 
‘Var. australis Benth. Fl. Austral. vii (1878) 653.—Leaves rough and scabrous. 
Panicle very lax and spreading. Perhaps naturalized. 
Var. planifolia Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xlvii (1915) 58.—Dark-green. Sheaths 
of the leaves long, scaberulous; blades flat, keel prominent. 
Nort AND SourH IsLanps, Stewart IsLAND: The typical state abundant from 
the Upper Thames and Waikato southwards. Var. leioclada : Mount Egmont, Petrie / 
near Westport, W. Townson! Var. australis: Marua, near Whangarei, H. Hawkins ! 
near Auckland, 7. F. C. Var. planifolia: Cultivated specimens grown from seed 
brought from Antipodes Island, Petrie / Sea-level to 4500ft. ~ “* Tussock-grass.” 
_ _Also in Australia and Tasmania. The most abundant grass through wide districts 
in the South Island, also plentiful in the elevated central portions of the North Island. 
eg it is not relished by stock, and is seldom eaten, save in the absence of 
etter food. 
