198 GRAMINEAE. | Poa. 
callus sometimes with a tuft of crisped hairs. Palea almost as long as the 
glume, linear-oblong, silky on the keels. _Anthers long, linear, about 75 in. 
long.—Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 909. 
SoutH Istanp: Nelson—Mount Arthur, A. Mackay! Canterbury—Limestone 
rocks in the Broken River basin, J. D. Enys! T. Kirk! T. F. C. 2000-4000 ft. 
Very closely allied to P. Colensoi, and chiefly distinguished by the peculiar habit, 
short rigid acicular leaves, and densely silky flowering glumes. 
21. P. pygmaea Buch. N.Z. Grasses (1880) t. 504.—Small, much 
branched, very densely tufted, forming compact rigid patches 2—4 in. diam. 
and 4-lin. high. Culms very short, clothed throughou; with densely 
imbricating leaves. Leaf-blades very short, $-+ in. long, extiemely rigid and 
coriaceous, folded, about 4, in. broad when spread out, subacute, strongly 
grooved, quite smooth ; ligules broad, thin. Panicle reduced to 1-3 spike- 
lets; pedicels short, smooth. Spikelets about din. long, brownish-green, 
often tinged with purple, 3-5-flowered. Two outer glumes slightly unequal, 
oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, quite smooth. Flowering glumes ovate, 
subacute, faintly 5-nerved, smooth, lower half clothed with short white 
silky hairs. Palea } shorter than the glume, ciliate on the keels. Anthers 
long, linear.—Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 909. 
SourH Ishanp: Otago—Summit of Mount Pisa, altitude 6000 ft., Peirie / 
A very remarkable little species, quite unlike any other. 
22. P. Kirkii Buch. N.Z. Grasses (1880) t. 518.—Culms tufted, erect, 
compressed, smooth, leafy, 3-5-noded, 6-18 in. high. Leaves much shorter 
than the culms, erect, 1-4in. long, 4-4 1n. broad, linear, gradually tapering 
to an acuminate point, flat, smooth or the margins scabrid above, striate ; 
sheaths compressed, grooved, the uppermost long, often sheathing the 
greater part of the culm; ligules long, membranous, erect. Panicle oblong 
or oblong-ovate, lax, erect, 2-5 in. long; rhachis slender, flexuous, smooth 
or minutely scaberulous ; branches in alternate pairs or in alternate fascicles 
of 3-5, unequal, slender, sparingly divided, smooth or scaberulous. Spike- 
lets elliptic-oblong, compressed, green or purplish-green, 4-4in. long, 3-5- 
flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, 4-2 the length of the whole spikelet, 
oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3-nerved, smooth or scabrid along the keel. 
Flowering glumes oblong-ovate, obtuse, prominently 5-nerved, smooth or 
minutely scabrid on the keel and nerves above, glabrous or rarely with a 
tuft of crisped hairs on the callus. Palea about + shorter than the glume, 
linear-oblong, ciliate on the keels. Anthers linear-oblong, goin. long.— 
Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 910; Jil. N.Z. Fl. ii (1914) t. 282. 
P. purpurea 7. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. ix (1877) 500 (name only). 
Var. Mackayi Hack. MSS.—Taller and stouter; leaves often din. broad. Spike- 
lets larger, }in. long. Flowering glumes often with a tuft of long crisped hairs on the 
callus. Anthers ;4 in. long.—P. Mackayi Buch. N.Z. Grasses (1880) t. 504A. 
Var. Collinsii Hack. MSS.—Slender, pale-green, laxly tufted, 1-2 ft. high ; nodes 
of the culm usually naked. Panicle 3-6in. long, very lax; branches long, slender. 
Spikelets as in the type, but rather larger.—P. Collinsii Kirk ex Petrie in Trans. N.Z. 
Inst. xxviii (1896) 589 (name only). 
Nortu Istanp: Mount Egmont, Petrie! 7. F. C.; Ruahine Mountains, B. C. 
Aston! Tararua Range, H. H. Travers! T. P. Arnold! Sours Istanp: Abundant 
in subalpine localities throughout. Var. Collinsii : Mount Fyffe (Marlborough), 7’. Kirk! 
Hooker Valley, 7. F. C. 2000-5000 ft. 
