Festuca madida Connor

Tufted to open extravaginally branched graceful, slender, upland grass of wet sites, with long-auricled fine leaves and smooth culms bearing short inflorescences of a few golden-violet spikelets, the lowest branch(es) usually widely divergent from the finely and minutely prickle-toothed rachis. Prophyll short (2–3 cm), keels glabrous. Branching extravaginal. Leaf-sheath 3–10 cm, striate, glabrous, much wider than leaf-blade, becoming red and fibrous; apical auricles (0.5)–0.7–1.7–(2) mm, lacerate, shortly ciliate. Ligule as for auricles. Leaf-blade 4–10–(20) cm × 0.3–0.4 mm diam., triangular or hexagonal, ridged, abaxially with long retrorse hairs below becoming glabrous, adaxially and on margins abundant short hairs; T.S.: 3–5 vascular bundles, 5–7 sclerenchyma strands. Culm (6)–10–30–(45) cm, slender, often greatly exceeding leaves, nodes hidden sometimes geniculate, internodes usually only one visible, glabrous. Panicle (1.5)–2–3.5–(6) cm, with 3–6–(9) nodes, (2)–3–6–(10) spikelets; basal branch pulvinate and widely divergent or erect ascending, (1)–1.5–2.5–(4) cm, solitary occasionally binate, with 1–2–(3) spikelets, not naked below; uppermost 3–6 spikelets solitary, imbricate, on short pedicels; rachis, branches and/or pedicels finely and minutely prickle-toothed on margins. Spikelets 6–9–(11) mm × 2–3 mm wide, golden-violet, of 3–5–(6) florets. Glumes unequal, keeled, glabrous, centrally golden-violet, smooth except for occasional prickles on keel, margins membranous and ciliate; lower 2.5–3.5 mm, 1-nerved, long triangular acute, upper 3–5 mm, 3-nerved, laterals often weakly developed, oblong, entire sometimes emarginate or slightly acute. Lemma 4–5–(6) mm, shortly (0.1 mm or less) lobed, upper margin broadly membranous, prickle-teeth throughout or sparse except on nerves at broad apex; narrowing abruptly to awn 0.5–1.5–(2) mm. Palea (3.5)–4–5.5 mm, ≤ lemma, acute, very shortly (0.1–0.2 mm) bifid, keels usually toothed to base, interkeel hairs often to base but mostly in upper ⅓, margins ciliate above. Callus 0.1–0.2 mm, ± glabrous; articulation flat. Rachilla 0.8–1.1 mm, short stiff hairy. Lodicules 0.6–1.0 mm, lobed, occasionally hair-tipped. Anthers 0.5–0.9–(1.2) in cleistogamous florets, 1.2–1.6 mm in chasmogamous florets, purple. Gynoecium: ovary 0.6–0.8 mm, hispid hairs at apex, glabrous on Campbell Id; stigma-styles 1–1.25 mm in cleistogamous florets, 1.6 mm in chasmogamous florets. Caryopsis 2.5–3 mm; embryo 0.5 mm; hilum 2–2.25 mm.

[From: Edgar and Connor (2000) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 5 (second printing).]