["G.F.M."—The specimen of grass sent is devoid of roots, and is in early flowering state, so that also the ripe grain cannot he examined. So far as can be made out from the material submitted, Baron von Mueller considers it be a dwarf of the Poa caespitosa with contracted inflorescences. Many other kinds of grasses get dwarfed when exposed to the sea breezes, and it would be worthy of experiment whether this grass, which is perennial when transplanted away from the coast, would continue dwarfed. In that case it should prove a good lawn grass. Some closely allied species grow in other parts of the world, the genus Poa containing about 80 well-defined species. In its low state this kind should serve particularly for maritime sheep pastures.]
Poa caespitosa
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'The Yeoman. Answers to correspondents', Australasian (Melbourne), 21 December 1895, p.1169. Assuming that the reply would be published in the next available issue in this weekly newspaper, it is dated to 13 December 1895 as the likely earliest date it would have been sent.
Please cite as “FVM-95-12-13a,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on