Common name: Sweet Holygrass
Hierochloe redolens (J.Vahl) Roem. & Schult. APNI*
Description: Loosely tufted perennial to c. 1 m high, with culms arising from extravaginal innovations on a contracted or shortly creeping rhizome.
Leaves with ligule 4–9 mm long, firmly membranous, very obtuse; blade 5–12 mm wide, upper surface and margins lightly scabrous.
Panicle exserted, 10–20 cm long. Spikelets shining, 3-flowered, strongly laterally compressed, 5–8 mm long. Glumes hyaline, acute to obtuse, subequal, 4.5–8 mm long, lower 1–3-nerved, upper 3-nerved. Lower lemmas male or sterile, c. 6.5 mm long, obscurely 5-nerved, ciliate on the margins with long, stiff hairs, with a straight dorsal awn from below the apex reaching or shortly exceeding the apex of the lemma. Bisexual lemma c. 4.5 mm long, thinner, apex scabrous, with short, stiff, hairs.
Flowering: summer.
Distribution and occurrence: Usually grows at fairly high altitudes in damp situations; south from Barrington Tops.
NSW subdivisions: NT, 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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