Common name: Robust Wallaby Grass, Ribbony Grass
Chionochloa frigida (Vickery) Conert APNI* Synonyms: Danthonia frigida Vickery APNI*
Description: Robust, densely caespitose perennial, to 1.5 m high, forming large tufts to 0.6 m diam.
Leaves with lower sheaths becoming loose; ligule of short cilia mostly 0.5–1.5 mm long; blade strongly inrolled on drying, thick, grooved on both surfaces; upper culm leaves finer and narrower, often exceeding the panicles.
Panicles somewhat contracted, many-flowered but not dense, 8–15 cm long. Spikelets 4–8-flowered, rather loosely arranged. Glumes subequal, acute or narrow-truncate, 8–13 mm long, lower usually 1-nerved, upper 3–5-nerved at the base. Lemma 4–7 mm long including the densely hairy callus; lateral lobes with distinct membranous margins, c. 6 mm long, tip acuminate, shortly awned; central awn coarse, geniculate, but only slightly twisted at the base, c. 8–15 mm long. Palea linear to linear-lanceolate, shorter than the entire part of the lemma, 2-fid.
Flowering: summer.
Distribution and occurrence: Often growing between rocks, in the Kosciusko district.
NSW subdivisions: ST
Text by S. W. L. Jacobs & S. M. Hastings
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 4 (1993)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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