Chionochloa australis

Detailed description

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.