Common name: Crested Dog's Tail
Cynosurus cristatus L. APNI* 
Description: Compactly tufted perennial to 0.7 m high; culms erect, stiff, unbranched.
Leaves with ligule membranous, very blunt, 0.5–1.5 mm long; blade 1–4 mm wide, ribbed on upper surface, sometimes hairy, lower glossy.
Panicle spike-like, erect or slightly curved, dense, stiff, narrow-oblong, 1–14 cm long, main axis rough or minutely hairy. Fertile spikelets surrounded by sterile ones, 3–5-flowered, oblong or cuneate, 3–6 mm long; sterile spikelets ovate but spreading at maturity, compressed, 4–6 mm long with glumes and lemmas arranged in 2 opposite rows. Glumes persistent, keeled, narrow, acute, 3–5 mm long, 1-nerved; lemmas rounded on the back, oblong-ovate, 5-nerved, awn c. 1 mm long. Palea slightly shorter than lemma.
Flowering: spring.
Distribution and occurrence: Weed of waste and cultivated areas. Native of Eur. & SW Asia.
NSW subdivisions: *CC, *SC, *NT, *CT, *ST, *SWS
Other Australian states: Vic. *Tas. *W.A.
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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