Rytidosperma penicillatum (Labill.) Connor & Edgar
Tall, slender, light green, in dense, crowded or loose tufts, shortly rhizomatous; leaves to about ½ height of culms; branching extravaginal. Leaf-sheath pale stramineous to grey-brown, rather dense or scattered short hairs; apical tuft of hairs to 2.5-(3) mm. Ligule c. 0.1 mm. Leaf-blade to 25-(35) cm, flat, to 2 mm wide, or folded and inrolled, with scattered long hairs, margins scabrid. Culm to 1 m, internodes glabrous but densely, minutely hairy to scabrid for usually c. 10 mm below inflorescence. Panicle slender, elongate, to 12 cm of few to several spikelets on short pedicels; rachis and pedicels densely short-scabrid with some longer hairs, especially below spikelets and above branch axils. Spikelets (3)-4-6-flowered, awns exserted from glumes. Glumes usually purplish centrally or near margin, lanceolate, subobtuse, 9-12-(13.5) mm, ± equal; lower 7-(9)-nerved, upper 5-(7)-nerved. Lemma 2.2-3.5 mm, 9-nerved, upper row of hairs ≥ lemma, in marginal and occasional adjacent tufts with usually two, occasionally 0 central tufts, lower row of marginal tufts not reaching to upper tufts, and shorter ± continuous to extremely sparse hairs between tufts, elsewhere glabrous or 1-2 hairs centrally; lobes 6-8.5 mm, narrowed to fine awns; central awn (9)-10-12 mm, column (2)-2.5-3.5-(4) mm. Palea 3.5-4.5-(5) mm, > upper lemma hairs, interkeel and margins glabrous. Callus 0.5-0.8-(1) mm, thick marginal hair tufts usually overlapping lower lemma hairs. Rachilla 0.5-0.6 mm. Anthers 0.5-0.7 and 1.2-1.8 mm. Caryopsis c. 2 × 0.8-1.1 mm; embryo 0.7-0.9 mm; hilum 0.3-0.5 mm.
N.: throughout but rare on Volcanic Plateau; S.: Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury (Kaitorete Spit), coastal Otago and Bluff. Grassland and modified sites in lowland and montane zones.
Naturalised from Australia.
