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  4. Chionochloa australis

Chionochloa australis

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Common name

carpet grass

Synonyms

Danthonia raoulii subsp. australis Buchanan; Danthonia australis (Buchanan) Buchanan

Family

Poaceae

Authority

Chionochloa australis (Buchanan) Zotov

Flora category

Vascular – Native

Endemic taxon

Yes

Endemic genus

No

Endemic family

No

Structural class

Grasses

NVS code

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

CHIAUS

Chromosome number

2n = 42

Current conservation status

  • Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017

The threat classification status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley. Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – a suggested threat classification status has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.

Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

2017 | Not Threatened

Previous conservation statuses

2012 | Not Threatened

2009 | Not Threatened

2004 | Not Threatened

Distribution

Endemic. New Zealand: South Island (Nelson to Canterbury).

Habitat

A conspicuous upper montane to alpine species forming dense mats in herbfields, tussock grasslands, and occasionally cushion bogs.

Features

Compact, mat-forming grass with persistent, short leaves densely crowded in tight shoots among many old sheaths, and much shorter than flowering culms. Leaf-sheath to 70 mm, imbricate, persistent, entire, becoming fibrous and separating into two distinct layers when old, shiny, glabrous, long (7 mm) entangled hairs at apex usually spreading across proximate sheath, adaxially with antrorse, soft, internerve hairs to 0.25 mm; margins undulating and usually glabrous. Ligule to 1.5 mm, often obscured by hairs of sheath and leaf-blade. Leaf-blade to 100.0 × 0.8 mm, acicular junceous, persistent, navicular, ± terete, distichous rarely mono-stichous, abaxially shining, glabrous, adaxially with a dense weft of long hairs at base, hairs gradually becoming fewer and shorter above, usually projecting beyond leaf margin, abundant papillae above; margin smooth. Culm to 400 mm, internodes glabrous except for short hairs below nodes and long hairs below inflorescence. Inflorescence to 50 mm; 3-5 solitary spikelets on short, flexuous, long hairy, pulvinate branches. Spikelets of up to 8 often purpled florets. Glumes to 14 mm, glabrous, acute or mucronate, frequently purpled, > adjacent lemma lobes; lower 3-nerved, upper 5-nerved. Lemma to 5 mm; hairs dense at margin and erect aside main nerve, usually absent or fewer elsewhere, approximately equal to sinus; lateral lobes to 7 mm including awn up to 4 mm, sometimes shortly lobed again, glabrous except for prickle-teeth above; central awn to 15 mm, reflexed from flattened to strongly twisting column to 4 mm. Palea to 7 mm. Callus to 1 mm, hairs to 2.5 mm. Rachilla to 1 mm. Lodicules to 1 mm. Anthers to 4 mm. Ovary to 0.8 mm; stigma-styles to 3 mm. Seeds to 3 mm

Manaaki Whenua Online Interactive Key

Key to the grasses of New Zealand

Flowering

November - January

Fruiting

December - May

Life cycle

Florets are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).

Propagation technique

Easily grown from rooted pieces and fresh seed. Should be planted in a permanently moist soil, ideally in a cool or partially shaded situation. Dislikes humidity and will not tolerate drought.

Etymology

chionochloa: Snow grass

australis: Southern

Where To Buy

Not Commercially available.

Attribution

Description modified from Edgar and Connor (2000).

References and further reading

Edgar, E.; Connor, H.E. 2000: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. V. Grasses. Christchurch, Manaaki Whenua Press. 650 pp.

Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285-309

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