Flora of New Zealand Series

Type species: A. littoralis (Labill.) E.B.Alexeev

Tussock-forming perennials, moderately tall, rhizomatous; branching intravaginal. Leaf-sheath open, glabrous. Ligule short, submembranous, truncate, shortly ciliate, abaxially glabrous. Leaf-blade stiff, rolled. Culm internodes glabrous. Panicle contracted, almost spike-like; branches short, stiff. Spikelets 3-6-flowered, pedicelled, laterally compressed; disarticulation above glumes; rachilla prolonged, ± hairy. Glumes 3-5-nerved, subequal, ≈ lemma of proximal floret, coriaceous, keeled, acute. Lemma 5-7-nerved, coriaceous, keeled; apex obtuse, or minutely notched with midnerve minutely excurrent. Palea subcoriaceous, keels 2, stiffly ciliate. Lodicules 2, bilobed, ciliate, and with a few minute hairs centrally. Callus ringed by short, stiff hairs. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous, styles free to base, stigmas plumose, whitish. Caryopsis elliptic to cylindric, adaxially longitudinally grooved; embryo small; hilum oval, c. ¼ length of caryopsis.

4 spp. of Australasia. Indigenous sp. 1, shared with Australia.

Austrofestuca, based on Festuca subgenus Austrofestuca Tzvelev, was segregated by Alekseev, E. B. Bjull. Moskovsk. Obsc. Isp. Prir., Otd. Biol. 81: 55-60 (1976) from Festuca, to accommodate the Australasian tussock plants of coastal sand dunes originally described as Festuca littoralis Labill. The plants resemble Poa rather than Festuca in having a ± hairy callus, keeled glumes and lemmas, and short hilum, but the caryopsis has a deeply grooved ventral side as in Festuca. The lodicules are hairy - an unusual feature in tribe Poeae, but the significance of hairy lodicules in delimiting Austrofestuca from Poa is diminished by the presence of one or two hairs at the tips of lodicules of New Zealand species of Poa [Edgar, E. N.Z. J. Bot. 24: 425-503 (1986)] and most indigenous species of Festuca [Connor, H. E. N.Z. J. Bot. 36: 329-367 (1998)].