Vulpia myuros var. megalura (Nutt.) Auquier
Panicle (5)-10-28 cm. Lemmas ciliate on margins above; sometimes almost entirely glabrous in some spikelets.
N.; S.: scattered; St.; K. Waste land, often stony.
Naturalised from Mediterranean.
Auquier, P. Bull. Jard. Bot. Nat. Belg. 47: 117-137 (1977), in his revision of Belgian spp. of Vulpia, discussed V. megalura (Nutt.) Rydb. This taxon, described from North America, differs from Eurasian V. myuros only in the lemmas being ciliate on the margins near the apex. Lonard, R. I. and Gould F. W. Madroño 22: 217-230 (1974), considered these plants were introduced to North America. Auquier (1977 op. cit.) recognised 3 infraspecific units within V. myuros : var. myuros (lemmas glabrous), var. megalura (lemmas ciliate on margins near apex), and var. hirsuta Hack. of Portugal (lemmas hairy throughout), which does not occur in N.Z.; Stace, C. A. and Cotton, R. Watsonia 11: 72-73 (1976), also recognised these 3 units with the rank of forma. Auquier (1977 op. cit.) considered that var. megalura was native to the Mediterranean and had been introduced further north in Europe and also to North America.
