silky at the base, oblong, membranous, 5-nerved, truncate at the tip and 3-toothed, the middle tooch entire or bifid or irregularly erose, the 3rd awnless or very obscurely awned, the 4th usually with a minute dorsal awn inserted just below the tip. Palea linear-oblong, bifid, 2-nerved, nerves finely ciliate. Rhachilla elongated between the flowering glumes and densely silky, produced above the upper flower into a long silky bristle.
Auckland Islands: Carnley Harbour, altitude 1000 ft., Kirk!
The densely tufted habit, short strict erect leaves, deltoid few-flowered panicle, large spikelets, and densely hairy rhachilla distinguish this from all its allies.
7. D. penicillata, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvii. (1895) 354.—Culms tufted, slender, glabrous, leafy, 3–6 in. high. Leaves shorter than the culms, radical and cauline; blades short, ¾–1½ in. long, narrow, flat or involute, striate; sheaths pale, membranous, deeply grooved, the uppermost long, enclosing the culm up to the base of the panicle; ligules long, pointed, scarious, broader than the blade at the base. Panicle small, 1–2 in. long, few-flowered; branches few, capillary, the lower ones bearing 2–3 spikelets, the upper 1-spiculate. Spikelets ⅛–⅙ in. long, pale yellow-green, shining, 2-flowered. Two outer glumes almost equalling the flowering glumes, subequal, oblong-lanceolate, subacute, hyaline, 3-nerved; 3rd and 4th or flowering glumes oblong, very delicate, with white hyaline tips, 5-nerved, silky at the base, obtuse or almost truncate at the tip and irregularly minutely denticulate, awn wanting. Palea linear-oblong, 2-nerved, nerves silky. Rhachilla elongated between the flowering glumes and produced beyond the upper flower into a bristle bearing a minute empty glume at its summit, silky throughout.
Macquarie Island: In swamps, A. Hamilton!
I regret that I have only seen two small and immature specimens of this curious little plant, which is by no means closely related to any other New Zealand species.
21. TRISETUM, Pers.
Perennial or rarely annual grasses. Leaves flat. Spikelets rather small, usually 2-flowered, more rarely 3–6-flowered, arranged in a narrow dense or lax panicle; rhachilla disarticulating above the 2 outer glumes, more or less produced between the flowering glumes and beyond the upper flower into a short bristle. Two outer glumes persistent, empty, equal or unequal, acute, keeled, 1–3-nerved. Flowering glumes 2–3, rarely more, equalling or exceeding the empty glumes, membranous with broad hyaline margins, 2-toothed at the apex, the teeth often produced into bristles or short awns; dorsal awn from the back below the tip, slender, straight or bent, often twisted
