Flora of New Zealand Series

Densely tufted, fine-leaved, perennial tussock with many innovation shoots; branching intravaginal. Leaf-sheath to 2 cm, with abundant retrorse short hairs, terminating in tuft of hairs to 1.5 mm subtending auricular lobes; auricular lobes symmetrical or asymmetrical to 0.5 mm. Ligule to 1.5 mm, shortly ciliate. Leaf-blade to 30 cm × 0.5 mm diam., inrolled, weakly acicular, abaxially very scabrid from short (0.25 mm) antrorse hairs and prickle-teeth in columns between ribs, adaxially with abundant short hairs; margins with antrorse prickle-teeth. Culm to 50 cm, pubescent below nodes, elsewhere glabrous. Panicle to 30 cm, sometimes subtended by long hairs or a bract; rachis, branches and pedicels short stiff hairy. Glumes subequal, purple below, tapering to hyaline awn-like processes, scabrid, > awn column; lower to 15 mm, 3-nerved, upper to 12 mm, 3-5-nerved. Lemma to 5 mm, clothed in white appressed hairs, less so above and becoming scabrid, lobes minute (0.25 mm); coma a few short hairs; awn to 65 mm, exceedingly falcate, ± 1-geniculate, column tightly twisted, short hairy, to 10-15 mm, arista to 50 mm. Palea internerve hairs long, apex glabrous. Callus to 1.5 mm, hairs to 2 mm. Lodicules 3, to 2 mm, ligulate. Anthers to 1.5 mm in cleistogamous, and to 3.5 mm in chasmogamous florets, penicillate. Fig. 5.

Fig. 5 Austrostipa scabra S, spikelets, × 4; G 1, G 2, glumes, × 8; L, floret with lemma, awn column and arista, × 4; P, palea dorsal view, × 12; O, ovary, styles and stigmas, × 16; St, stamens, lodicules and gynoecium, × 16. © All rights reserved. [Image: 4X7W]