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Manual of the New Zealand Flora.

32. Agropyrum, Gaertn

32. Agropyrum, Gaertn.

Annual or perennial grasses. Leaves flat or convolute ligules scarious. Spikelets more or less laterally compressed, 3-to many-flowered, solitary and sessile, distichously placed in the alternate hollows of the continuous or jointed rhachis of a simple spike, one face of the spikelet next the rhachis rhachilla disarticulating above the two outer glumes and usually between the flowering glumes. Two outer glumes subequal or unequal, empty, persistent, lanceolate or linear. Flowering glumes more or less rigid and coriaceous, rounded on the back or keeled above, 5ndash;7-nerved, awned or awnless. Palea rather shorter than the glume, sharply 2-keeled, ciliate on the keels. Lodicules 2, oblique or unequally lobed, entire or ciliate. Stamens 3. Ovary villous at the top; styles very short; stigmas plumose. Grain narrow, compressed at the back, often adherent to the palea hilum as long as the grain.

Species about 35, found in almost all temperate counties, but most abundant in Europe and north Asia. Of the 4 species found in New Zealand,. 1 extends to Australia, the remaining 3 are endemic.

* Awn short, never more than½ the length of the flowering glume.
Spikelets l in., 6ndash;12-flowered. Awn very short, sometimes wanting 1. A. multiflorum.
Spikelets ½in., 2ndash;4-flowered. Awn from ⅓ to ½ \ the length of the flowering glume 2. A. Enysii.
** Awn very long, from 3 to 5 times the length of the flowering glume.
Spikelets 1½ ndash;3 in. long with the awns; awn rather slender 3. A. scabrum.
Spikelets 4 in.long with the awns; awn stout, rigid, channelled 4. A.Youngii.
1.A. multiflorum, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxix. (1897) 530.—Perennial. Culms densely tufted, branched, decumbent or almost prostrate at the base, erect above, quite smooth and glabrous, leafy, 1ndash;2 ft. high. Leaves 3ndash;8 in. long, about in. broad, flat or slightly convolute when dry, tapering from the base upwards, somewhat rigid and coriaceous, prominently striate, page 922rough above, often glaucous; sheaths tight, pale, grooved; ligules short, truncate, membranous. Spike straight;, erect, 3ndash;6 in. long, of 6ndash;12 spikelets; rhachis pubescent on the angles. Spikelets about l in. long, close or somewhat distant, erect, appressed to the rhachis, 6ndash;12-flowered. Two outer glumes small, unequal, lanceolate, acuminate, 3ndash;7-nerved. Flowering glumes oblong-lanceolate when spread out, convolute, smooth and rounded on the back below, scabridly keeled above, 7ndash;9-nerved, coriaceous, acute or mucronate or produced into a short awn of varying length. Palea sharply keeled and folded, ciliolate on the keels.—Triticum multi-fiorum, Banks and Sol. ex Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 311; Handb. N.Z.Fl. 342; Buck. N.Z. Grasses, t. 56b. T. repens, A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 138; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 261; Raoul, Choix, 39 (not of Linn.).

Var. longisetum,Hack. MSS.—Awn longer, sometimes half the length of the flowering glume.

North Island Not uncommon in lowland districts throughout, especially near the coast. South Island Queen Charlotte Sound, Banks and Solander; near Nelson, T. F. C.;Canterbury, Armstrong.

A variable plant in the size of the spikelets, number of flowering glumes, and the extent to which the awn is developed.

2.A. Enysii, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvii. (1895) 352.— 'Culms laxly tufted, very slender, weak, decumbent at the base, erect above, sparingly leafy, 1–2½ ft. high. Leaves much shorter than the culms, 1/15–⅙ in. broad, flat, flaccid, striate, minutely rough to the touch, glabrous or sparingly villous; sheaths long, tight, softly villous or the upper ones almost glabrous; ligules short, truncate, erose. Spike 2ndash;5 in. long, slender, erect or inclined, often interrupted below, of 9ndash;18 spikelets rhachis compressed, scabrid on the angles. Spikelets bluish-green, ½ in. long, 2ndash;1-flowered. Two outer glumes about ½ the length of the spikelet, subequal, linear-lanceolate, 3ndash;5-nerved, gradually narrowed into a scabrid acuminate point or awn ⅓ to ½ the length of the glume. Flowering glumes lanceolate, rounded on the back, smooth and coriaceous, 5-nerved, sometimes minutely 2-toothed at the tip, narrowed into a short scabrid awn about i the length of the glume. Palea shorter than the glume, linear-oblong, coriaceous, ciliolate on the keels.—Asprella aristata, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvi. (1894) 272.

South Island Canterbury—Slopes of Mount Torlesse and Broken River, Enys! Petrie! T. F. C.; Bealey River, Kirk!Poulter River, Cockayne!Southern Alps, N. T. Carrington! 2500ndash;4500 ft.

A very distinct species, at once recognised by the weak habit, flat membranous leaves, narrow spike, and few-flowered spikelets. Very similar in habit to Asperella gracilis, and easily mistaken for it on a cursory inspection, but the structure of the spikelet is that of Agropyrum.

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3.A. scabrum, Beauv. Agrost. 102.—Annual or perennial, very variable. Culms laxly tufted, slender, decumbent at the base, erect or ascending above, quite smooth, leafy, 6ndash;24 in. high. Leaves 2ndash;9 in. long, 1/20ndash;1/10 in. broad, flat or convolute, usually scabrid on both surfaces, often glaucous; sheaths smooth, grooved, the upper long; ligules short, truncate. Spike 3ndash;9 in. long, of 2ndash;10 rather distant erect spikelets; rhachis flattened, scabrid on the angles. Spikelets ¾ndash;1 in. long without the awns, l-½ndash;3 in. with them, 6ndash;12-flowered. Two outer glumes small, not reaching more than ⅓ up the flowering glumes immediately above them, subequal, narrow-lanceolate, tapering into short acuminate points, rigid, 3ndash;5-nerved. Flowering glumes lanceolate, coriaceous, smooth and rounded on the back at the base, obscurely keeled and scabrid above, 3ndash;5-nerved, narrowed into a long and slender straight or flexuous scabrid awn from 3 to 5 times as long as the glume itself. Palea almost as long as the glume, linear-oblong, ciliolate on the keels.—Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 665. Triticum scabrum, R. Br. Prodr. 178 A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 137; A. Cunn. Precur, n. 260; Raoul, Choix, 39; Hooh. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 311; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 342 Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 57.Festuca scabra, Lab. PI. Nov. Holl. i. 22, t. 26.

Kermadec Islands, North and South Islands: Abundant throughout. Sea-level to 4500 ft.

Also plentiful in Australia, from Queensland to Tasmania and West Australia. In small specimens the spike is sometimes reduced to a single terminal spikelet. Subalpine specimens usually have larger and fewer (spikelets with longer awns than those from lowland districts, but the size of the spikelet and length of the awns varies excessively.

4.A. Youngii, C heesem.—" Habit of T. scabrum.Leaves quite glabrous below, slightly scabrid on the upper surface. Spike 2ndash;3 in. long, of 3ndash;4 very large spikelets 4 in. long, including the awns. Empty glumes ⅓ in. long, acuminate, margins membranous, flowering ones nearly ¾ in. long without the awn, which is 1½—2 in. long, very stout, rigid, scabrid, convex at the back, concave in front with scabrid edges, margins and sides of glume scabrid and almost aculeate."—Triticum Youngii, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 343.

South Island: Canterbury—"Grassy flats, sources of the Wai taki altitude 3000 ft., Haast."

"A remarkable plant, with few spikelets, almost twice as large as those of T. scabrum, and very long rigid awns. My specimens are imperfect, and some allowance must here be made for the description." This does not seem to have been observed since its original discovery by Haast, and in the absence of further information I have reproduced Hooker's description. Apparently it only differs from A. scabrum in the larger size of the spikelets and the longer and stouter awns, and seeing how variable these characters are in A. scabrumI should not be surprised if it proved to be a form of that plant.