Poa acicularifolia Buchanan

Small, blue-green perennial, 10–20 cm at flowering with culms far overtopping leaves, from a woody, much-branched rhizome, with wiry, very long-creeping roots at nodes and numerous fine rootlets; branching intravaginal; leaf-blades disarticulating at ligule. Leaf-sheath light cream to later greyish brown, much wider than leaf-blade, glabrous, membranous, sparsely ribbed; margins very wide hyaline. Ligule 1–5 mm, apically glabrous, tapered, entire, abaxially scabrid near base or smooth, occasionally extending as a rim-like membranous contra-ligule. Leaf-blade 0.5–2.5 cm, rolled and c. 0.5 mm diam., glabrous; margins sparsely prickle-toothed, slightly narrowed to firm abruptly shortly curved, sometimes pungent tip. Culm (3)–5–15 cm, with 1–2 small cauline leaves, internodes glabrous. Panicle 1.5–3.5 cm, lax; rachis glabrous, branches capillary, smooth or very finely scabrid, with 1–2 spikelets at branchlet tips. Spikelets 4–8 mm, (2)–3–5-flowered, light grey-green. Glumes subequal, 2–3.5 mm, 3-nerved, elliptic-ovate, midnerve scabrid near subobtuse tip, margins often finely scabrid. Lemma 3–4 mm, 5-nerved, oblong-elliptic, obtuse, short-pubescent throughout lower ⅓ to ½ but central internerves sometimes glabrous, scabrid above on midnerve and occasionally towards tip; margins scabrid above. Palea 2.5–3.5 mm, keels ciliate-scabrid, interkeel minutely hairy on lower ½. Callus ringed by short soft hairs. Rachilla 0.5–1 mm, usually ciliate; prolongation twice as long. Lodicules 0.5 mm. Anthers 1.8–3 mm. Caryopsis c. 1.5–2 × 0.5 mm.

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