brevitcr pecliccllatis brevioribus, palea inferiore subsericea acuta quinquenervi basi barbata dorso scabrida, superiore breviore bifida, squamulis basi counatis, foliis subdistiche insertis longissimis latis planis carinatis glaberriniis, culmis caespitosis compressis. (Tab. LV.)
Var. /3, minor, spiculis minoribus subtrifloris.
Hab. Lord Auckland's group and Campbell's Island ; on banks and in rocky places, chiefly near the sea, very abundant. /3. more common hi Campbell's Island ; growing amongst rocks. McQuarrie's Island, {Herb. Hook.)
FMzomata prostata, crassa, lignosa, 3-4 line, longa, crassitie digiti minoris et infra, ereberriine nodosa, radices plurimas fibrosas ubique emittentia, reliquiis fibrosis foliormn vetustorum obtecta, caespites densos magnos scabellum simulantes effieientia, versus apices culmos plurimos emittentia ; fibris 3-4 unc. longis, filiformibus, subrigidis, liic illic tortis, simpKcibus v. fibrillosis. Culmi validi, erecti, 2-3 ped. longi, - unc. lati, basi compressi et foliis abbreviate vaginati ; in var. 0, 6 unc. ad pedaleni et graciliores. Folia plurima, plantis junioribus praesertiin distiche inserta, longissime Hnearia, flexuosa, culmum longe superantia, 3—1 ped. longa, gradatiai attenuate, latiuseula, |~ J unc. latitudine, plana, per totaui longitudinem carinata, glaberrima, striata, utrinque opaca, herbacea, laete viridia, subtus glaucescentia. Vagina latse, 3-4 unc. longae, compressae, striates, opacae, ad basin fissae, folionun vetustorum 1 unc. latae, emarcidse fibrosas ; ore paulo contraeto, ssepe fusco-brunneo ; ligula conica, longituduie varia, scariosa, acuta v. obtusa, Integra v. lacera. Panieula lineari-oblonga, eontracta, valde compressa, decomposita, nutans v. inclinata, 5-8 unc. longa, 1-3 lata, raclii valida, tereti, glaberrima; ramis suberectis, compositis, 1-1—2 unc. longis, glaberrimis, pohtis, mvdtifloris. Spicules pedicellatas, 2-1-- 3 lin. longae, pedicello graeili, curvato. Glumarum valvm eequales, kmceolatae, acuminata?, flosculis breviores, concavae, sub-carinatae, basi trinerves ; nervis tenuibus, iutermedio dorso vix scaberido, lateralibus medium vix attingentibus. Mosauli 3-5, plerumque 4, inferior sessUis, rebqui breviter pedicellate pedicello glabro. Palea inferior subberbacea, acuminata, apice subincurva, dorso cibata, basi breviter villoso-barbata, subsericea, quinquenervis. Palea superior paulo brevior, oblonga, bifida, bicarinata, carinis cihatis. Squaniula basi earaosfe et connatae, subquadratas, obbque bifidse ; segmentis acute, erosis ; in var 0, obovatae, bipartitse, segmentis aeiuninatis. Stamina 3 ; jilamentis elongatis ; ant/wris exserte, stamineis. Ovarium minimum, ovatimi ; stylia basi approximate, elongatis ; stigmatibm parce phimosis.
A grass of large growth and very leafy, affording a rich and nutritious food for animals ; in some cases it forms large mounds or tussacks, not unbke those of the Dactylis caspitosa of the Falkland Islands (the Tussack grass), but smaller; with, however, a similarly luxuriant habit. In size it varies extremely, froni several feet to a few inches in height, and from a robust to rather a slender habit ; it is only indeed when growing in large masses that it assumes a characteristic appearance, in this respect further resembling the celebrated grass above mentioned. The small specimen from McQuarrie's Island especially, I should have been inclined to regard as another species, had the plant not appeared in a similarly starved state in Campbell's Island. In the large cidms the ample sheaths of the old leaves conceal the compressed form and distichous insertion of the leaves, which are very marked in the younger ones, and in certain states as conspicuous as in small states of the Tussack grass itself.
It is with much hesitation that I refer this to Festuca, for I know no species of that genus with a similarly leafy and soft habit, or with cgmpressed culms and distichous leaves, the only one indeed which appears to bear any resemblance to it is the jP. Bonax, Lowe, a Madeira plant, and that merely in being of a large size and having a somewhat similar large and branched panicle. The want of the arista alone at the apex of the lower palea restrains me from placing it with what is certainly its nearest ally, the true Tussack Grass.
Plate LV. Fig. 1, spikelet ; flg. 2, a floret ; Jig. 3, connate squanmlae ; fig. 4, one squamula of var. /3 ; fig. 5, ovarium, style and stigmata : — all magnified.
