Flora of New Zealand Series

; Holotype: WELT 59606 (Buchanan's folio)! D. Petrie Mt Pisa, 4-6000 ft (No 1356 to Hackel).

Small, dull green, much-branched, very densely packed perennial, rooting from short prostrate branches and forming compact, rigid cushions to 10 cm across and 2.5 cm high, slightly overtopped by filiform flowering culms with few spikelets; branching intravaginal, new shoots with densely imbricating leaves; leaf-blades persistent. Leaf-sheath much wider than leaf-blade, pale greyish brown, membranous, glabrous, shining, ± indistinctly ribbed. Ligule 0.5-1 mm, apically glabrous, entire, narrowed centrally to a short point, abaxially sparsely to densely minutely pubescent. Leaf-blade 0.3-0.7 cm × 1-2 mm, stiff, inrolled, abaxially glabrous, ribs prominent, adaxially strongly ribbed, ribs whitish with fine minute hairs or prickle-teeth; midrib scabrid near very curved, subobtuse or occasionally acute tip. Culm 1.5-2.5 cm, internodes mainly smooth with a few minute prickle-teeth above. Panicle 0.5-1 cm, contracted, racemose, with 1-3 spikelets; branches and pedicels glabrous. Spikelets 4.5-5.5 mm, 2-5-flowered, light green to purplish. Glumes equal, 2.5-3.5 mm, 3-nerved, ovate-elliptic, subobtuse, smooth or rarely with a few prickle-teeth on midnerve near tip; margins entire. Lemma 3-3.5 mm, 5-nerved, ovate, obtuse, lower ½ with fine, often crinkled hairs on nerves and sparse somewhat shorter hairs on internerves, upper ½ sparsely scabrid on midnerve and near wide membranous margin; midnerve occasionally minutely excurrent. Palea 2.5-3 mm, keels ciliate, interkeel with sparse minute hairs. Callus with few long hairs. Rachilla c. 0.5 mm, sparsely ciliate; prolongation twice as long. Lodicules 0.4-0.6 mm. Anthers 1.2-1.6 mm. Caryopsis c. 1.5-2 × 0.5 mm. 2 n = 28.

S.: Pisa Range, and Mount St Bathans, Otago. In subalpine to alpine snow hollows and on lake margins.

Endemic.