5. Aiba Antarctica, Hook.; panicula efi'usissima ramis fasciculatis capillaribus pedicellisque elongatis, spiculis lanceolatis 1— 2-tloris setiilaque flosculi secimdi tertiive auctis, flosculis puberulis pedicellatis basi sericeis, palea inferiore profunde bifida basi aristata, arista glumas superante, cubno brevi, foliis subulatis longe vaginantibus. A. Antarctica, Hook. Ic. Plant, t. 150. (Tab. CXXXIII.)
Hab. Hermite Island, Cape Horn, the Falkland Islands, and Kerguelen's Land, abundantly, J.B.H.; New Soutb Shetlands, Br. Eights.
Planta pha?noganiica ante omnia Antarctica. Culmi dense ca?spitosi, breves, 1-3-unciales, erecti procumbentesve, foliosi. Folia glaberrima, herbacea, longe vaginantia ; vagina - unc. longa, teres, striata ; ligula linearis, A unc. longa; lamina anguste lineari-subulata, marginibus involutis, vaginae aequilonga v. longior. Panicula pro planta maxima, 4-6 unc. longa, effusa, 3-6 unc. lata, v. ob ramos appressos angustior ; ramis 1-5 unc. longis pedicellisque scaberulis, capillaribus. Spiculis angusta?, fere unc. longa?, 1-2 flores, uniflores semper biflores saepissirne pedicello ciUato floris alterius aucta?. Ghana lanceolata?, carina scabrida margiivibus sub lente ciliatis, apicibus acutis, flosculis pedicellatis inclusis bis longiores. Palea inferior ciliata, oblongo-lanceolata, scarioso-membranacea, bifida v. fere bicuspidata, sinu quadrato bidentato, dorso basi aristata ; arista recta, scaberula, paulo ultra glumas exserta. Stamina exserta, antberis brevibus. Squamula oblique ovata? acuminata;. Ovarium breviter stipitatum, stybs basi discretis divaricatis.
Tbis elegant grass, appropriately named A. Antarctica, attains a higber southern latitude than any other flowering plant, being the only phaenogamic species that inhabits the South Shetland Islands. Kerguelen's Land in latitude 48° is its northern luuit; but that Island being situated in a longitude where the rigour of the Antarctic climate extends further north than in any other, this grass is even there more typical of the frigid zone than the latitude would indicate, and always seeks the most sheltered places. In the Falkland Islands again, the most temperate region it inhabits, it invariably avoids shelter, bemg found chiefly in open marshy places near the sea, fully exposed to the violence of the winds.
Plate CXXXIII. Fig. 1, two locusts? and portion of panicle ; fig. 2, a floret from the same ; fig. 3, squamula; fig. 4, single-flowered locusta ; fig. 5, floret from the same : — all magnified.
6. AiBAparmla, Hook. fil. ; caespitosa, puberula v. glabrata, panicula erecta contracta subsimpbci pauciflora rarnis brevibus locustisque erectis, glumis lanceolatis acuminatis flosculis pedicellatis triplo longioribus, palea inferiore late ovata basi barbata apice bifida inter segmentos acutos bidentata dorso supra basin aristata, arista geniculata glumas vix excedente, foliis setaceis culino brevioribus.
Hab. Hermite Island, Cape Horn ; rocks near the mountain tops, /. B. H.
Gramm 3-5-unciale, foliosum, dense ceespitosum, rigidiusculum. Culmi erecti, basi fibrosi et pluries divisi, foliis perpluriniis vaginati. Folia 2 unc. longa, stricta, erecta, anguste subulata, glabrata v. pilis patidis puberula, subcoriacea, marginibus involutis ; vagina latiuscula, membranacea ; ligula valde elongata, scariosa, linearis, acuminata. Panicula l-l-i-uncialis, stricta, erecta j ramis paucis, brevibus, 1-floris, panicula? appressis. Locusta a unc. longa;. Gluma a?quales, glabriuscula?. Flosculorum pedicelli sericeo-barbati ; flosculi superioris palea superior setula aucta. Squamula ovata?, acuminata?. Ovarium obtusum, stylis discretis, laterabbus.
A remarkably distinct little species, most nearly allied to A. Antarctica, but distinct in the foliage, the very different panicle, and shorter florets.
9. TRISETUM, Kunth.
1. Teisetom subspicatum, Beauv., Agrost. p. 88. Ft. Antarct. Pt. 1. p. 97. T. andinum, Bent A. Plant. Hartweg. p. 2G1. n. 1449.
