Class
Order
Family
Classification
Subordinate Taxa
Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Aira L., Sp. Pl. 63 (1753)
Vernacular Name(s):
Hair grass
Description
Slender, annual or biennial, glabrous, herbaceous tufts. Leaf-sheath rounded. Ligule membranous. Leaf-blade convolute to flat, narrow. Panicle with delicate branches. Spikelets ± laterally compressed, small, 2-flowered; disarticulation above glumes and between florets; rachilla not, or occasionally, prolonged. Glumes subequal, membranous, delicate, ≈ or > lemmas, 1–3-nerved. Lemma 5-nerved, lanceolate, becoming ± chartaceous below, hyaline above, apex shortly bifid, with a fine, dorsal, geniculate awn, or the lower or both lemmas awnless. Palea < lemma, 2-keeled. Callus very short, hairy. Lodicules 2, lanceolate, acute, glabrous. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous; styles free. Caryopsis dorsiventrally compressed, longitudinally grooved; embryo small; hilum punctiform or shortly elliptic; endosperm solid.
[From: Edgar and Connor (2000) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 5 (second printing).]
Biostatus
Exotic
| Category | Number |
|---|---|
| Exotic: Fully Naturalised | 4 |
| Total | 4 |
Bibliography
Linnaeus, C. 1753: Species Plantarum. Impensis Laurentii Salvii, Stockholm.
Mabberley, D.J. 2008: Mabberley's plant book, a portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses. Edition 3. Cambridge University Press.
