Flora of New Zealand Series

Very tall, stout, tussock with dark green, sharp, drooping leaves, and inflorescence initially violet but drying dirty brown. Leaf-sheath thin, rolling up and eventually fracturing into short segments; abaxially with scattered long hairs, adaxially with short soft hairs below ligule. Ligule to 4 mm. Collar white, sparsely prickle-toothed. Leaf-blade to 2 m × 2 cm, surfaces homochromous, arching and pendent from sheath, abaxially sparsely long hairy, adaxially with weft of short hairs on nerve at base, minute prickle-teeth throughout; margins long (2 mm) hairy below becoming scabrid from rows of prickles. Culm to 3.5 m; internodes finely scabrid. Inflorescence to 75 cm, plumose, dense, erect to drooping with flexible branches falling to one side, violet drying dirty dull brown; rachis finely scabrid, branches and pedicels violet and abundantly finely short stiff hairy, pedicels lacking long hairs below spikelets. Spikelets 20 mm, of up to 7 florets. Glumes unequal, to 10-13 mm, > florets, scabrid, produced into awn-like process, nerve becoming violet. Lemma to 12 mm, scabrid, drawn out into long awn-like process, nerves 3, violet; hairs to 10 mm, radiating from upper lemma; central awn a mucro to 0.3 mm, from between bifid lemma apex. Palea to 4 mm, attenuated, apex hair-tipped, violet, keels ciliate, interkeel and flanks scabrid. Callus to 1 mm, curved, hairs to 2 mm. Rachilla to 1.5 mm. Lodicules to 0.5 mm, lobed or simple, ciliate, nerved. Androecium of 3 staminodes to 0.15 mm on filaments to 0.8 mm. Gynoecium: ovary to 1.5 mm; stigma-styles to 2 mm. Caryopsis to 2.5 mm; embryo to 1 mm; hilum linear to 1 mm. 2 n = 108.

N.: south from Lake Taupo; waste places, lowlands, plantation forests and scrub to 800 m; S.: Nelson, Marlborough, and Canterbury. Cultivated in many gardens in both Is. FL Jan-mid Mar.

Naturalised from South America.

All plants are ♀ as in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru - the area of origin - and reproduction is by autonomous apomixis.