probably not less than 3500. In usefulness to man it is exceeded by no other order. The nutritious herbage forms the chief pasturage of our flocks and herds; the cereal grains, as wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice, millet, maize, &c., constitute a very large proportion of our food; sugar is obtained from the sugar-cane and sorghum; while few plants are applied to a greater variety of uses than the various kinds of bamboos. Many species are cultivated for ornamental purposes, from the dwarf varieties used for edgings and lawns to the pampas-grass and giant-bamboo. Of the 33 indigenous genera, one only (Simplicia) is endemic; 4 (Microlæna, Echinopogon, Dichelachne, and Amphibromus) are found elsewhere in Australia and Tasmania alone; and 2 others (Ehrharta and Asperella) have a very restricted range, but are not indigenous in Australia. The remaining 26 are widely distributed in either temperate or tropical regions or in both, and some are cosmopolitan. In addition to the indigenous species, a large number of grasses have become naturalised, and every year adds to the list. Most of these are natives of the Northern Hemisphere, and many have been purposely introduced and widely spread through the country on account of their value for pasturage or fodder. The remainder are either weeds of cultivation or inhabitants of waste-places or roadsides, a large proportion having followed the footsteps of civilised man all round the world. A few Australian and subtropical species have also established themselves, but the number of these is not nearly so large as might have been anticipated. Many of the naturalised species have so completely amalgamated with the indigenous flora as to present all the appearance of true natives, and will certainly be taken as such by a beginner unacquainted with their history. It will therefore be advisable, when determining any species, to make frequent reference to the list of naturalised species given in another part of this work, and to become acquainted with their distinguishing characters, which, in the majority of cases, can be learned from any British Flora.
I am deeply indebted to Professor E. Hackel, of St. Poelten, Austria, so well known for his wide acquaintance with the order, for undertaking a critical examination of the whole of the New Zealand species, and for furnishing me with very full and complete notes, with permission to use the same for the purposes of this work. In drawing up the following account I have largely availed myself of the results of his work, and with few exceptions have adopted the systematic disposition of the species recommended by him.
Division A. PANICACÆ.
Spikelets articulated on their pedicels below the glumes and falling away at maturity; usually 2-flowered, the upper flower perfect and producing seed, the lower flower always male; rhachilla not continued beyond the upper flower.
Tribe I. ANDROPOGONEÆ.
Spikelets usually 1-flowered, generally in pairs, rarely in threes or solitary, on the rhachis of a spike or branches of a panicle, all hermaphrodite or some of them male, in the latter case so placed that a male spikelet stands by the side of a hermaphrodite one. Flowering glumes hyaline, often awned, usually much smaller than the empty ones.
| Panicle long, dense, cylindrical. Spikelets awnless, almost concealed by long silky hairs | 1. Imperata. |
Tribe II. ZOYSIEÆ.
Spikelets usually 1-flowered, solitary or in clusters on the rhachis of a spike or raceme. Flowering glumes membranous, never awned, usually smaller than the outer glumes.
