Lachnagrostis littoralis subsp. salaria

Detailed description

Densely tufted, light green to greyish green or glaucous, coarse, stiffly erect annual to short-lived perennial grass 30–400 mm tall, whole plant often withering early and culms not breaking up below panicle. Branching intravaginal. Leaf-sheath firmly membranous, glabrous. Ligule 1.5–3.0 mm, oblong, tapered, subobtuse or denticulate, sometimes lacerate, undersides smooth. Leaf-blade firm 40–150 × 0.5 mm, often involute, or flat, up to 2 mm wide, underside smooth or minutely papillose, rarely scabrid, upper surface minutely scabrid on ribs and margins, leaf tip acute to subobtuse. Culm 70–300 mm, included within leaf-sheaths, internodes finely scabrid below panicle, rarely visible until culm breaks up at maturity. Panicle 40–200 × 10–180 mm, delicate, ± contracted, later spreading (sometimes remaining contracted), enclosed at base by sheath of uppermost culm-leaf; branches and branchlets ± erect, all ± equal in length, slender, scabrid, naked for much of their length, the ultimate branchlets tipped by 1–2 spikelets. Spikelets 3–4 mm, light green or greenish brown, slender. Glumes unequal; lower slightly shorter, elliptic-lanceolate, acute 1-nerved; upper elliptic-ovate ± acuminate, 3-nerved, smooth, keel scabrid, margins hyaline, finely scabrid above. Lemma 2.5–3.0 mm long, elliptic-lanceolate; 5-nerved with scattered to rather dense short silky hairs, often glabrous above, lateral nerves shortly excurrent, faintly scabrid; awn 2.5–4.0 mm long, ± mid-dorsal, straight or curved, slightly twisted near base. Palea slightly < lemma, nerves 0.1–0.2 mm apart, keels 0.3 mm apart, minutely excurrent, faintly scabrid at apex. Callus hairs dense, very short, to 0.5 mm long covered one-fifth of lemma. Rachilla prolongation 0, or up to 0.9 mm long, with hair tuft to 1.2 mm long. Lodicules 0.8–0.9 mm long, linear, acute. Anthers 0.5–0.7 mm. Seed 1.3–1.6 × 0.4 mm.