Poa.]| GRAMINEAE. 201 
Flowering glumes broadly oblong, obtuse, 5-nerved, margins white and 
membranous, surfaces very minutely rough, quite glabrous. Palea linear- 
oblong, glabrous.  Anthers oblong, small, about ,,1n. long. Ripe grain 
adherent to the palea.—Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 912. P. albida 
Buch. N.Z. Grasses (1880) t. 50c. P. anceps var. alpina Hook. f. Handb. 
N.Z. Fl. (1864) 339. 
SoutH IsLanp: Probably not uncommon on dry shingle slopes in alpine localities. 
Nelson—Mount Percival, 7’. Ff. C. ; Mount Captain, 7. Kirk. Canterbury—Mount Tor- 
lesse, Berggren, Petrie! mountains above the Broken River, 7’. F. C.; Mount Peel, 
H. H, Allan! Mount Dobson and Mount Darwin, Haast ; Mount Cook district, 7. F. C. 
Otago—Mount St. Bathan’s, Mount Ida, Mount Kyeburn, Petrie / 3500-6000 ft. 
A very peculiar and distinct little species, quite unlike any other. 
Sprengel /f07-F. P. 34>. 
28. P. imbecilla/Forst. f. Prodr. (1786) n. 499 (name only) 4Culms 
tufted, branched and decumbent at the base, ascending or erect above, weak, 
very slender, often filiform, quite smooth and glabrous, leafy, 3-14 in. high. 
Leaves shorter than the culms, very narrow, 31,-;; in. broad, flat, flaccid ; 
sheaths narrow, smooth, grooved, the upper often long; ligules rather 
long, membranous. Panicle very lax and slender, 1-5in. long; branches 
in alternate fascicles of 3-5 or in small specimens binate or solitary, long, 
spreading, capillary, minutely scaberulous. Spikelets on long pedicles, 
small, green, =4,-} in. long, laxly 2—6-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, 
often small, from 4 to 4 the length of the flowering glumes immediately 
above them, ovate or ovate-oblong, obtuse or subacute, 3-nerved. Flower- 
ing glumes often remote, oblong or broadly oblong, obtuse, faintly 3-nerved, 
or occasionally 5-nerved with the intermediate nerve on each side indistinct, 
smooth and glabrous, or slightly scabrid on the keel and sometimes on the 
nerves above, no tuft of hairs on the callus. Palea about 3 the length of 
the glume, linear-oblong, ciliate on the keels. Anthers oblong, minute, 
about ,in. long—sSpreng. Fl. Hal. Mant. i, 33; A. Cunn. Precur. (1836) 
n. 263; Raoul Choe (1846) 39; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 306 ; Handb. 
N.Z. Fl. (1864) 337; Buch. N.Z. Grasses (1880) t. 538; Cheesem. Man. 
N.Z. Fl. (1906) 913. Hragrostis imbecilla Benth. Fl. Austral. vii (1878) 643. 
Var. breviglumis Cheesem.—TIwo outer glumes very unequal, the lower sometimes 
nearly obsolete. Other characters very much as in the type.—P. breviglumis Hook. f. 
Fl. Antarct. i (1844) 101; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 913. —— 
- 
‘> Var. Matthewsii Hack. MSS.—Taller, 10-20in. high. Panicle larger, 4-8 in. 
long. Spikelets rather larger, 4—-6-flowered. Flowering glumes closer, usually 5-nerved, 
but the intermediate nerves on each side often very faint.—P. Matthewsii Petrie in 
Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxiv (1902) 392. PP. brevi is.flook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 
337 (in part). fred 
si 
_ Norrse anp Sours IsLanps, STEWART JsLAND, CHATHAM ISLANDS: Not uncommon 
in-shaded places throughout. Sea-level to 4000 ft. Var. breviglumis : Auckland and 
Campbell Islands, Hooker! T. Kirk! F. R. Chapman! Var. Matthewsii : Not 
uncommon from North Canterbury southwards to Foveaux Strait. 
As a species, P. imbecilla is well characterized by the slender flaccid habit, small 
spikelets with minute outer glumes, and obtuse glabrous flowering glumes, which are 
usually 3-nerved in the typical form, but generally 5-nerved in var. Matthewsii. It is 
said to occur in Australia. In the first edition of this work I maintained Hooker’s 
P. breviglumis as a separate species; but the examination of additional specimens 
and the perusal of Petrie’s paper “ On Poa breviglumis”’ (Trans. N.Z. Inst. xlii (1910) 
197) have convinced me that it cannot be separated as a species from P. imbecilla. 
