Page:The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage.djvu/408

372 Qramen rigidum, csespitosum, 4-6 pollicare. Culmi basi ascendentes, pluries divisi, vaginis coriaceis nitidis striatis foliorum vetustorum obtecti, parte superiore usque ad paniculaui vaginati. Foliorum vagina 1-2 unc. longa, teres, glaberrinia, profunde striata ; ligula brevis ; lamina vagina brevior v. superans, erecta, culmo brevior, rigida, anguste setacea, apice puugens, folii superioris panicularn fere superans. Panicula 1-i- unc. longa, pedunculo pedicellisque flexuosis, elougatis, leevissimis. Sjricula purpurea;, nitidae, vis 2 lin. longa;. Glunue membranaceae. lanceolata?, flosculo paulo breviores, inferiore paulo majore. Flosculus brevissime pedicellatus, pedicello barbato. Palea inferior in aristani desinens ; arista 1-H unc. longa, siccitate curvata, niadore recta, rigida, sub lente scaberula, apice gradatim attenuata, basi obscure articidata, baud v. vix torta, angidata. Squamulce 2, lineari-oblongae, obtusas. Stamina 3. Ovarium stipitatum, supra medium constrictum.

Allied to M. capillarh of North America, in the form of the locustse ; but a very different species, and, I think, decidedly of the genus Miililenbergia. The rigidity of the arista is quite like that of Stipa, as is the harsh foliage, while in other respects the plant has more affinity with the Agrostidea.

Plate CXXXI. Fig. 1, locusta; fig. 2, floret with portion of the awn removed; fig. 3, sqnamula; fig. 4, ovarium : — all magnified.

4. AGROSTIS, L.

1. Agrostis tenuifolia, Bieb., Flor. Taw. Cauc. vol. i. p. 56. Trinins, Ic. vol. iii. t. 35. Kuntk, En. Plant, vol. i. p. 220.

Far. Fretensis ; locustis paulo majoribus.

Hab. Var. Fretensis, Strait of Magalhaens ; Port Famine, Capt. King.

I have compared this grass most carefully with authentic specimens of A. tenuifolia from Persia and the Caucasus, without being able to detect any further difference than in the size of the locustae, which in the Antarctic plant are of an inch long, the Caucasian scarcely -Jg-. Intermediate between them is a common Rocky Mountain species, collected by Douglas, and described as A. exarata, 0., in the 'Flora Boreali-Americana' (vol. 2. p. 239). There are, however, two forms of A. exarata 0., one from the east side of the Rocky Mountains, which has the scabrid broader leaves of the true A. exarata, and a distinct upper palea (this is the A. Drummondi, Torrey MS.), the other (or Douglas's), from the west side of the dividing ridge, is smaller, more slender, with small locusta?, and no upper palea ; it agrees closely with the Magellanic plant in size and foliage, and bears the name of A. tenuifolia? Bieb., appended to it by Dr. Torrey.

The culms of A. tenuifolia p. are 15 inches to 2^ feet long, smooth, erect, and very slender. Leaves subsetaceous, obscurely scabrid. Lower palea truncate, 4-toothed and 4-nerved, with or without a short dorsal awn. Upper palea none, or when present extremely short.

2. Agrostis alba, Linn., Sp.Pl. p. 93. Engl. Bot. t. 1189. A. csespitosa, Gaud, in Ann. Sc. Nat. vol. v. p. 100, et in Freyc. Foy. Bot. p. 131. Kunth, Agrost. p. 219.

Var. P, stolonifera. A. stolonifera, Linn. fyc.

Hab. Falkland Islands, both varieties abundant, but possibly introduced ; Gaudickaud, Mr. Wright, J. B. H.

The lower palea in my specimens is obscurely 4-nerved, or, in var. /3., 5-nerved, with occasionally a very short awn, never projecting beyond the glumes. The upper palea is one third shorter than the lower. This grass forms a very good pasturage, both in the upland and lowland districts about Port Louis, but is not very abundant, which it may become if it be an introduced plant. The var. stolonifera is the famous 'Fiorin grass,' or 'Squitch' of Dr. Richardson and the Irish agriculturists.