Common name: Giant Mountain Grass
Dryopoa dives (F.Muell.) Vickery APNI* Synonyms: Poa dives (F.Muell.) F.Muell. APNI*
Description: Erect, coarse perennial to 3 m high; culms smooth, hollow, c. 5-noded, to 1 cm diam.
Leaves with sheath open to the base with overlapping margins, striate, glabrous; ligule firmly membranous to stiff, obtuse, distinctly striate, 8–20 mm long; blade 7–18 mm wide, many-nerved, scabrous on margins and nerves.
Panicles 20–50 cm long, to 50 cm wide, with distant fascicles of 3–8 branches. Spikelets c. 9 mm long. Glumes unequal, 3-nerved, compressed, with scabrous keels, lower 3–5.5 mm long, upper 4–7 mm long. Lemma elliptic-oblong when flattened, distinctly nerved, sometimes with a minute awn in very immature spikelets, apex hyaline and sometimes becoming laciniate. Palea subequal to lemma, rather firm and lightly scabrous on the back.
Flowering: spring.
Distribution and occurrence: Grows in tall wet sclerophyll forest of coastal ranges; south from Robertson, uncommon.
NSW subdivisions: CC, SC, NT, CT, ST
Other Australian states: Vic. Tas.
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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