Aira praecox L.
early hair grass
Small, erect, reddish green or greyish green tufts, 3-20-(25) cm, with spike-like panicles. Leaf-sheath firmly membranous, sparsely ribbed, very minutely scabrid below ligule or entirely smooth. Ligule (0.6)-1.5-3.2 mm, tapered, shortly denticulate, abaxially usually sparsely scabrid. Leaf-blade 0.5-4 cm × 0.3-0.5 mm diam., inrolled, smooth, or abaxially sparsely scabrid on ribs; margins minutely scabrid, tip obtuse. Culm internodes usually densely scabrid below nodes, or smooth throughout. Panicle (0.5)-1-4.5 cm × 3-9 mm, oblong or lanceolate; rachis, short erect branches and pedicels rather sparsely, finely scabrid. Spikelets green, tinged purple. Glumes c. 3 mm, 1-3-nerved, elliptic-lanceolate, acute, often scabrid near tip, keel scabrid, margins minutely ciliate-scabrid. Lemma 2.5-3 mm, ˜ glumes, smooth and firmly membranous in lower ½, densely minutely scabrid towards bifid hyaline apex; awn 3.2-4.2 mm, from lower ⅓ of lemma, column brown, finely twisted. Palea narrower than lemma, keels glabrous, rounded. Callus ringed by minute hairs. Rachilla very short, glabrous, prolonged. Anthers c. 0.3 mm. Caryopsis 1.5-2 × c. 0.5 mm.
N.: scattered, but abundant in pumice land near Taupo; S.: Nelson, Westland, Fiordland and on the east from Banks Peninsula southwards; St.; Three Kings Is, Ch. Dry sandy or stony waste ground, on roadsides, in depleted pasture or in scrub; usually lowland, occasionally montane to subalpine.
Naturalised from Europe.
