Rytidosperma tenue (Petrie) Connor & Edgar

Slender tufts, often with tufts of leaves at ends of elongating shoots, rooting at nodes; leaves < culms; branching extra- and intravaginal. Leaf-sheath light brown, usually with scattered long hairs, sometimes smooth; apical tuft of hairs to 2 mm. Ligule 0.2–0.3 mm. Leaf-blade to 15 cm, inrolled, mostly glabrous but margins slightly scabrid near base. Culm to 25 cm, internodes smooth but finely scabrid below inflorescence. Panicle erect, contracted, narrow, 1–7 cm, of few spikelets on short pedicels; rachis and pedicels uniformly closely short-scabrid. Spikelets 4–5–(6)-flowered, awns ± included by glumes. Glumes purplish centrally, lanceolate, subacute, 6–7.4 mm, ± equal, 5-nerved. Lemma c. 2 mm, 9-nerved, upper row of hairs dense, continuous, ≥ lemma lobes, lower row ± indistinct except for marginal tufts, elsewhere short scattered hairs; lobes 0.7–1.2 mm, tapering to minute awn or membranous; central awn 1.5–2.5 mm, column c. 0.5 mm, sometimes absent, < palea and upper lemma hairs. Palea c. 2.5 mm, ≤ upper lemma hairs, interkeel glabrous, margins with a few long hairs. Callus 0.2–0.3 mm, very short marginal hair tufts not, or a few just reaching lower row of lemma hairs. Rachilla c. 0.7–1 mm. Anthers 0.6–0.9 mm. Caryopsis not seen. Plate 12C.

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