Poa compressa L.
Stiff, loosely tufted, bluish or greyish green perennial to c. 40 cm, with erect, or geniculate and ascending culms from wiry rhizomes; branching extravaginal; leaf-blades persistent. Leaf-sheath light yellowish green to light brown, subcoriaceous, glabrous, keeled, otherwise indistinctly ribbed. Ligule c. 0.5-1 mm, ± truncate to somewhat rounded, very minutely ciliate, abaxially scabrid. Leaf-blade 2-7 cm × 1.5-2.5 mm, subcoriaceous, folded or flat, abaxially smooth, but scabrid on nerves and keel near curved tip, adaxially finely scabrid throughout; margins short-scabrid. Culm (8)-12-40 cm, flattened, nodes usually purplish, internodes glabrous. Panicle (1)-3-8 cm, usually contracted, stiff, with numerous, densely clustered spikelets, rarely more open and somewhat branched; rachis, branches and pedicels sparsely scabrid. Spikelets 3-6 mm, 3-6-flowered, green or purplish. Glumes ± equal, 3-nerved, ovate-elliptic, acute, smooth, but slightly scabrid on midnerve near tip; lower 2-2.3 mm, upper 2.2-2.5 mm. Lemma 2.2-2.7 mm, 5-nerved but lateral nerves faint, oblong, obtuse, with broad, purple, thin hyaline band above, internerves glabrous, midnerve glabrous or softly hairy in lower ½, lateral nerves glabrous or softly hairy near base. Palea ≈ lemma, keels short-scabrid, interkeel smooth. Callus usually with small tuft of soft hairs. Rachilla c. 0.4 mm, very minutely papillose. Lodicules 0.3-0.4 mm. Anthers 1-1.3 mm. Caryopsis c. 1 × 0.5 mm.
N.: near Auckland City, Makino near Feilding, Wellington City; S.: Marlborough (Pelorus Sound), Canterbury (near Christchurch), Otago (Lauder, and near Queenstown). Not common; roadsides and shingle banks.
Naturalised from Europe.
