Rytidosperma caespitosum (Gaudich.) Connor & Edgar
Strict, crowded tufts with erect leaves and culms, occasionally shortly rhizomatous; leaves semi-pungent, ≤ culms; branching intravaginal. Leaf-sheath whitish cream, glabrous, or few to many hairs usually near collar; apical tuft of hairs 2-3.5 mm. Ligule 0.3-0.5 mm. Leaf-blade to 17 cm, dull green, narrowly inrolled, or flatter, scattered to dense, short, stiff hairs, sometimes glabrous, margins closely scabrid. Culm to 45-(65) cm, internodes glabrous but with a few short hairs just below inflorescence. Panicles erect, to 5-(10) cm, compact, few, large spikelets on short pedicels; rachis and pedicels closely short-scabrid, often with stiff longer hairs at branch axils and below spikelets. Spikelets 4-9-flowered, awns much exserted from glumes. Glumes green, purple-tinged, lanceolate, subacute, ± equal, 11-15-(19) mm, both 5-7-nerved, occasionally a few long hairs or densely hairy. Lemma 2.7-4 mm, 9-nerved, with two, rarely sparse to usually continuous, often dense rows of hairs, upper row < lemma lobes, lower row usually reaching base of upper, occasionally almost overlapping, usually glabrous elsewhere, occasionally a few short scattered hairs centrally and on margins, adaxially usually few longer hairs close to base of awn sinus; lobes (6.5)-7-10-(11) mm, tapering to long awns; central awn 10.5-20 mm, column (3)-4-5 mm usually » upper lemma hairs. Palea (3.2)-5-6 mm, narrow-lanceolate, < upper lemma hairs, occasional interkeel hairs, margins usually with long fine hairs. Callus (0.6)-1-1.4 mm, very dense marginal hair tufts often reaching to base of lower lemma hairs. Rachilla 0.1-0.2-(0.4) mm. Anthers 0.3-0.6 and 0.7-2 mm. Caryopsis c. 2 × 1 mm; embryo c. 1 mm; hilum c. 0.7 mm.
N.: Kawakawa to Maunganui Bluff and south to Kaipara and Raglan Harbours, to the east on Mokohinau Is, Cuvier Id and Coromandel Peninsula, Wellington coast (Mana Id); S.: eastern Marlborough, North and Mid Canterbury, North Otago. Dry sites in lowland grassland, and waste places.
Naturalised from Australia.
Some specimens from Harewood (Canterbury) and one from Waipara (CHR 45955 A. J. Healy 1946) fit R. caespitosum except that the awn column is about equal to the lemma hairs rather than noticeably exceeding them.
