South Island: Probably not uncommon on dry shingle slopes in alpine localities. Nelson—Mount Percival, T.F.C.; Mount Captain, Kirk. Canterbury—Mount Torlesse, Berggren, Petrie! mountains above the Broken River, T.F.C.; Mount Dobson and Mount Darwin, Haast. Otago—Mount St. Bathan's, Mount Ida, Mount Kyeburn, Petrie! 3500–6000 ft.
A very peculiar and distinct little species, quite unlike any other.
22. P. imbecilla, Forst. Prodr. n. 499 (name only).—Culms tufted, branched and decumbent at the base, ascending or erect above, weak, very slender, often filiform, quite smooth and glabrous, leafy, 3–14 in. high. Leaves shorter than the culms, very narrow, 130–115 in. broad, flat, flaccid; sheaths narrow, smooth, grooved, the upper often long; ligules rather long, membranous. Panicle very lax and slender, 1–5 in. long; branches in alternate fascicles of 3–5 or in small specimens binate or solitary, long, spreading, capillary, minutely scaberulous. Spikelets on long pedicels, small, green, 110–18 in. long, laxly 2–6-flowered. Two outer glumes unequal, often small, from ⅓ to ½ the length of the flowering glumes immediately above them, ovate or ovate-oblong, obtuse or subacute, 3-nerved. Flowering glumes often remote, oblong or broadly oblong, obtuse, faintly 3-nerved, or occasionally 5-nerved with the intermediate nerve on each side indistinct, smooth and glabrous, or slightly scabrid on the keel and sometimes on the nerves above, no tuft of hairs on the callus. Palea about ¾ the length of the glume, linear-oblong, ciliate on the keels. Anthers oblong, minute, about 160 in. long.—Spreng. Fl. Hal. Mant. i. 33; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 263; Raoul, Choix, 39; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 306; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 337; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 53b. Eragrostis imbecilla, Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 643.
Var. Matthewsii, Hack. MSS.—Taller, 10–20 in. high. Panicle larger, 4–8 in. long. Spikelets rather larger, 4–6-flowered. Flowering glumes closer, usually 5-nerved, but the intermediate nerves on each side often very faint.—P. Matthewsii, Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxiv. (1902) 392. P. breviculmis, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 337 (in part).
North and South Islands, Stewart Island, Chatham Islands: Not uncommon in shaded places throughout. Sea-level to 4000 ft.
As a species, P. imbecilla is well characterized by the slender flaccid habit, small spikelets with minute outer glumes, and obtuse glabrous flowering glumes, which are usually 3-nerved in the typical form, but generally 5-nerved in var. Matthewsii. It is said to occur in Australia.
23. P. breviglumis, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 101.—Culms tufted, decumbent at the base, ascending above, slender, smooth and glabrous, leafy, 6–12 in. high. Leaves shorter than the culms, narrow, 120–112 broad, flat, flaccid, striate; sheaths short, deeply grooved; ligules oblong, obtuse, scarious. Panicle erect, oblong, lax, slender, 2–5 in. long; branches few, in alternate fascicles of 3–5, slender, unequal, capillary, simple or sparingly divided.
