Flora of New Zealand Series

; Holotype: CHR 74046! V. D. Zotov Mt Pisa, 4000-5700 ft, 15/1/50.

Tall to modestly short tussock with very smooth or minutely prickle-toothed fine leaf-blades, below laxly branched inflorescence of large spikelets with conspicuously awned florets. Prophyll 3-5 cm, stramineous, keels ± antrorsely toothed, apex ciliate. Leaf-sheath (2.5)-4.5-7 cm, glabrous, striate, stramineous, margin membranous; apical auricles (0.4)-0.5-0.8-(1.3) mm, rounded, ciliate. Ligule 0.3-0.6 mm, ciliate. Leaf-blade 10-15-(20) cm, occasionally 5-8 cm, × 0.4-0.6 mm diam., hexagonal and ribbed or ± terete, pointed, abaxially smooth or minutely or imperceptibly antrorsely prickle-toothed on ribs, adaxially and on margins abundantly short white antrorsely hairy; TS: 5 vascular bundles, 7 sclerenchyma strands. Culm (11)-30-40 cm, erect, well exserted above leaf-blades; nodes visible; internodes smooth but sometimes occasionally minutely prickle-toothed. Panicle (2.5)-6-10-(13) cm with 5-9 nodes, (4)-8-10-(16) spikelets; branches solitary sometimes binate, lax, naked below, basal branch (1.2)-2-4-(5.5) cm, of (1)-2-(5) spikelets, uppermost 3-5 spikelets solitary on short pedicels; rachis prickle-toothed on margins throughout or sometimes glabrous below becoming scabrid above, branches and pedicels prickle-toothed. Spikelets 10-12-(15) mm × 3-5 mm, of 5-6 florets. Glumes unequal, keeled or slightly so, prickle-teeth above, usually brown or purpled centrally, margins mem-branous, ciliate; lower 2.8-4.0 mm, 1-nerved, long triangular acute or blunt, upper 3.5-5.5 mm, 3-nerved, narrowly ovate, obtuse to acute. Lemma (3.7)-5-6.2 mm, lobes short (0.1 mm), rounded, glabrous except for prickle-teeth at apex and near awn, glaucous; awn 1.2-2.5 mm. Palea (4.5)-5.5-6.8 mm, often=lemma, acute, deeply (0.6 mm) bifid, keels toothed in upper ½-⅔, interkeel hairs above, margins of flanks ciliate above. Callus 0.2-0.3 mm, margin very sparsely shortly bearded; articulation flat. Rachilla 1-1.5 mm, short stiff antrorsely hairy. Lodicules 0.8-1.2 mm, lobed, usually hair-tipped. Anthers 2.8-3.7 mm, yellow. Gynoecium: ovary 0.6-0.9 mm, obovate, apex usually with hispid hairs; stigma-styles 1.2-1.3 mm. Caryopsis 3 mm; embryo 1 mm; hilum ± 2 mm.

S.: mountains of Central Otago: Dunstan, Pisa, and Old Man Ranges; 600-1800 m.

Endemic.