Dichelachne rara (R.Br.) Vickery
Stout or slender, moderately tall, extravaginal tufts, leaves < culms. Leaf-sheath light brown, sometimes purplish, usually glabrous below and scaberulous above, rarely with projecting hairs. Ligule (0.5)-1-1.5 mm, membranous, truncate, ciliate, abaxially scabrid to ciliate, often asymmetric. Leaf-blade to 10 cm × 1.5-2.5 mm, rather stiff, flat, minutely scabrid on ribs and margins, tapered towards tip. Culm 35-70 cm, internodes glabrous, often minutely scaberulous near nodes. Panicle (5.5)-10-16 cm, ± lax, with short, ± erect, few-flowered branches; rachis, branchlets and pedicels short-scabrid, partly hidden among spikelets. Spikelets pale, shining. Glumes ± equal, > lemma, elliptic-lanceolate, aristate; lower 4-5.5-(6) mm, upper 4.5-6 mm. Lemma 3.5-5 mm, surface minutely scabrid, tip opaque, scabrid, bifid; awn 10-20 mm, once-geniculate, brownish, inserted 0.3-0.5-(0.9) mm below lemma tip, column tightly twisted several times. Palea 3-4 mm, narrow-linear, keels scabrid near ciliate tip. Callus hairs 0.5-1 mm. Rachilla prolongation usually obvious, up to c. 1 mm. Lodicules 0.5-0.7 mm, elliptic-oblong, bifid at shortly ciliate tip. Anthers 1-3, 0.8-1.9 mm in chasmogamous flowers, 0.4-0.9 mm in cleistogamous flowers. Caryopsis (1.4)-1.8-2 × 0.3-0.4 mm; embryo 0.2-0.4 mm; hilum (1.2)-1.6-1.8 mm.
N.: North Cape to Auckland and Coromandel, southern Wellington Province; S.: Marlborough Sounds and Bluff; Three Kings Is. Manuka or kanuka scrub and disturbed sites in lowland zone.
Naturalised from eastern Australia.
Although first recorded in 1974 it has been here since 1878 at least (Edgar and Connor 1982 op. cit. p. 303).
