Poa cita Edgar
≡P. caespitosa Spreng. in Biehler Pl. Nov. Herb. Spreng. 7, no. 10 (1807) non Poir., in Lamarck (1804);
Holotype: B (Herb. Willdenow no. 1894)! Forster habitat in Nova Zeelandia.
=P. caespitosa var. leioclada Hack. in Cheeseman Man. N.Z. Fl. 908 (1906);
Lectotype: W 10641! D. Petrie Mount Egmont, Taranaki, 4000 ft [6.1.1901] (No 1364 to Hackel) (designated by Edgar 1986 op. cit. p. 446).
=P. caespitosa var. planifolia Petrie, T.N.Z.I. 47: 58 (1915);
Lectotype: WELT 66405! D. P[etrie] ex H. J. Matthews grown partly in my [Petrie's] garden Epsom and partly in a Dunedin garden, ....[originally] from the Auckland Islands, end Novr. 1912 (designated by Edgar 1986 op. cit. p. 447).
=P. laevis var. β filifolia Hook.f., Fl. N.Z. 1: 307 (1853);
Lectotype: K! Colenso 2393 [woods, nr. Tarawera] grass (designated by Edgar 1986 op. cit. p. 446)
silver tussock
Dense rather shining tussock, 30-100 cm, sometimes hanging down steep banks and up to 2 m, with light brownish green sometimes glaucous leaves smooth to the touch; branching intravaginal; leaf-blades persistent. Leaf-sheath pale green, later creamy brown, shining, ± membranous, smooth, or very minutely scabrid throughout, ribs inconspicuous. Ligule c. 0.5 mm, truncate, short-ciliate, abaxially minutely hairy. Leaf-blade (10)-20-60 cm × c. 1-1.5-(2.5) mm, folded or ± flat, coriaceous, abaxially glabrous, midrib and lateral ribs not very prominent, adaxially closely minutely pubescent throughout; margins inrolled, scabrid, midnerve scabrid near acicular, often pungent tip. Culm (10)-20-50-(70) cm, ≤ leaves, internodes smooth to scabrid below panicle. Panicle (5)-10-20-(25) cm, open; branches slender, ± erect to spreading, sparsely to very closely scabrid, naked below, spikelets many on shorter secondary branchlets. Spikelets (3.5)-6-9 mm, (2)-3-5-flowered, light green to later light brown. Glumes subequal, (2)-3.5-5-(6) mm, acute to subacuminate, sparsely minutely scabrid to smooth, midnerve with sparse prickle-teeth in upper ½; lower 1-(3)-nerved, narrow-lanceolate, upper 3-(5)-nerved, elliptic-lanceolate; margins membranous with scattered fine prickle-teeth above or almost throughout. Lemma 3-5-(6) mm, 5-nerved, elliptic-oblong, obtuse, minutely scabrid, midnerve with long crinkled hairs in lower ½, scabrid above, outer lateral nerves with crinkled hairs near base; margins membranous, sparsely minutely scabrid. Palea (2)-3-4 mm, keels densely ciliate-scabrid, interkeel minutely scabrid to pubescent-scabrid, flanks short-scabrid. Callus with tuft of crinkled hairs. Rachilla c. 1 mm, scabrid or with occasional hairs. Lodicules c. 0.5 mm, occasionally hair-tipped. Anthers (1)-2-3 mm. Caryopsis c. 1 × 0.5 mm. 2 n = 84. Plate 7D.
N.: throughout, but rare in the west from Raglan to Manawatu except on Mt Egmont; S.: throughout; St.; K., Ch. Lowland to subalpine in grassland, and pasture, open scrub and forest, coastal cliffs; on relatively fertile soils.
Endemic.
This widespread tussock grass varies throughout its range. In central North Id plants are small, with narrow, needle-like, abaxially rounded leaves, scabrid or smooth culm internodes and drooping lower panicle branches bearing few, rather small spikelets. Plants from Mt Egmont have wide leaves, ± ribbed abaxially, usually smooth culm internodes, and few, large spikelets. Plants from the Wellington Coast and from coastal Nelson and northern Marlborough also have wide abaxially ribbed leaves and smooth culm internodes but the panicle is rather contracted and bears numerous spikelets; in northern North Id there are some even wider-leaved, larger plants. Most South Id plants are rather uniform with scabrid leaf-sheaths, abaxially ± ribbed leaves, usually scabrid culm internodes, and very scabrid panicle branches with numerous spikelets.
Specimens of P. cita with proliferous spikelets have been collected, e.g., WELT 65969 from Lake Lyndon, and WELT 66022 from Coleridge Pass.
Specimens on which Edgar (1986 op. cit. p. 447) based a record for Three Kings Is are referred to P. anceps.
Varietal combinations made under P. caespitosa Spreng. are illegitimate but the varietal epithets are legitimate. P. caespitosa var. planifolia was described from plants grown at Dunedin and Auckland from seed collected from Antipodes Is by H. J. Matthews in 1895, but labelled by Petrie as from Auckland Is. Edgar (1986 op. cit.) recorded an MS comment from V. D. Zotov that the plants were probably a local contaminant from Dunedin. Godley, E. J. N.Z. J. Bot. 27: 531-563 (1989) correctly excluded P. cita from the flora of Antipodes Id.
