Rytidosperma penicillatum (Labill.) Connor & Edgar

Tall, slender, light green, in dense, crowded or loose tufts, shortly rhizomatous; leaves to about ½ height of culms; branching extravaginal. Leaf-sheath pale stramineous to grey-brown, rather dense or scattered short hairs; apical tuft of hairs to 2.5–(3) mm. Ligule c. 0.1 mm. Leaf-blade to 25–(35) cm, flat, to 2 mm wide, or folded and inrolled, with scattered long hairs, margins scabrid. Culm to 1 m, internodes glabrous but densely, minutely hairy to scabrid for usually c. 10 mm below inflorescence. Panicle slender, elongate, to 12 cm of few to several spikelets on short pedicels; rachis and pedicels densely short-scabrid with some longer hairs, especially below spikelets and above branch axils. Spikelets (3)–4–6-flowered, awns exserted from glumes. Glumes usually purplish centrally or near margin, lanceolate, subobtuse, 9–12–(13.5) mm, ± equal; lower 7–(9)-nerved, upper 5–(7)-nerved. Lemma 2.2–3.5 mm, 9-nerved, upper row of hairs ≥ lemma, in marginal and occasional adjacent tufts with usually two, occasionally 0 central tufts, lower row of marginal tufts not reaching to upper tufts, and shorter ± continuous to extremely sparse hairs between tufts, elsewhere glabrous or 1–2 hairs centrally; lobes 6–8.5 mm, narrowed to fine awns; central awn (9)–10–12 mm, column (2)–2.5–3.5–(4) mm. Palea 3.5–4.5–(5) mm, > upper lemma hairs, interkeel and margins glabrous. Callus 0.5–0.8–(1) mm, thick marginal hair tufts usually overlapping lower lemma hairs. Rachilla 0.5–0.6 mm. Anthers 0.5–0.7 and 1.2–1.8 mm. Caryopsis c. 2 × 0.8–1.1 mm; embryo 0.7–0.9 mm; hilum 0.3–0.5 mm.

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