1. H. redolens, R. Br. Prodr. 209.—Culms tufted, leafy, decumbent at the base, erect or ascending above, stout or rather slender, 1½–3 ft. high or even more. Leaves numerous, shorter than the culms or almost equalling them, ¼–½ in. broad, flat, deeply striate, smooth or minutely scaberulous, bright shining green; sheaths long, compressed, deeply striate; ligules broad, scarious. Panicle pale yellowish-brown, shining, open or dense, inclined or nodding, very variable in size, usually from 4 to 12 in. long, more rarely elongated and reaching 14 or 18 in.; rhachis slender, glabrous; branches very slender, almost capillary, more or less hairy or almost glabrous, lower 2–3 in. long. Spikelets ¼ in. long and broad, shortly pedicellate; pedicels shorter than the spikelets, pilose. Glumes all thin and membranous; outer 2 equalling or slightly exceeding the 3rd and 4th, ovate, acuminate, with a stout continuous midrib and a short basal lateral vein on each side; 3rd and 4th each enclosing a male flower, ovate-oblong, obtuse, 5-nerved, pubescent, silky-ciliate on the margins and keel, with a short awn from the back a little below the tip; 5th smaller than the 4th, glabrous below, slightly hairy above, mucronate or very shortly awned. Palea linear-oblong, 1–2-nerved.—Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 92; Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 300; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 321; Fl. Tasm. ii. 108; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 558; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 6. H. antarctica, R. Br. Prodr. 209. Holcus redolens, Forst. Prodr. n. 563. Torresia redolens, Roem. and Schult. Syst. ii. 516; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 269.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands, Campbell Island: Abundant in moist places throughout. Sea-level to 3000 ft.
Also in Fuegia, Tasmania, and Victoria. It varies much in size and degree of robustness, and appears to pass by easy gradations into the next species.
2. H. Fraseri, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 93.—Smaller and more slender than H. redolens, with narrower leaves. Culms tufted, sometimes densely so, slender, quite smooth and glabrous, 6–18 in. high, rarely more. Leaves much shorter than the culms, 3–9 in. long, strict, erect, flat, ⅕–⅓ in. broad, quite smooth; ligules broad, scarious. Panicle pale yellowish-brown, often tinged with purple, short, ovate, open, shining, 1½–4 in. long; branches often few, capillary, usually glabrous. Spikelets ⅕ in. long and broad, shortly pedicelled; pedicels glabrous or more or less bearded. Glumes all thin and membranous; outer 2 usually slightly shorter than the 3rd and 4th, obtuse or subacute, 3-nerved but the lateral nerves often short; 3rd and 4th each enclosing a male flower, oblong, obtuse, 5-nerves, pubescent, margins silky-ciliate for their whole length, awn short, straight, from the back a little below the tip; 5th smaller tnan the 4th, glabrous or nearly so at the base, pubescent or ciliate above, tip produced into a short awn. Palea linear, 1–2-nerved.—H. redolens var. Fraseri, Benth. Fl. Austral.
