Puccinellia chathamica

Detailed description

Erect, densely tufted, glaucous to dark green, pliant but rigidly firm grass 60–500 mm tall. Upper most leaves over topping culms; branching intravaginal. Leaf-sheath light greenish brown, dark brown or purple glabrous, firmly membranous, striate. Ligule 0.6–3 mm, obtuse or truncate, glabrous, entire. Leaf–base 50–300 × 5–10 mm, folded, rarely flat, abaxially glabrous, adaxially finely ribbed, ribs finely scabrid, apex acute, smooth, rarely subobtuse and apiculate. Culm usually hidden by sheaths, internodes glabrous. Panicle usually overtopped by leaves, 20–130 × 6–20 mm, linear-lanceolate, erect, very contracted, dense; branches stiff, smooth, subacute-angled. Spikelets 3–9 mm, 2–5-flowered, glaucous or brown-green. Glumes unequal, narrow lanceolate to elliptic-oblong, subacute; lower 1.5–4.5 mm, 1–3-nerved, elliptic-oblong, usually with a few hairs at base and on nerves near base to about midway. Lemma usually 5-nerved (rarely 7-nerved); apex minutely ciliate-scabrid, obtuse with slightly excurrent midnerve, rarely entire. Palea ≤ lemma, keel scabrid in upper ⅓ rarely slightly ciliate below, reaching only to apex. Rhacilla 0.8–1.8 mm. Anthers 0.6–1.5 mm, purple. Seed 1.5–2.6 × 0.4–0.8 mm, brown or grey-brown.