Common name: Flat-stem Grass
Uranthoecium truncatum (Maiden & Betche) Stapf APNI* 
Description: Slender tufted annuals or short-lived perennials to c. 30 cm tall, culms flattened; nodes pubescent.
Ligule a row of hairs, sometimes membranous at the base; blade flat, soft, linear, 5–15 cm long.
Inflorescence 7–10 cm long, at first partially enclosed in the uppermost sheath; axis fragile, spikes falling with an attached axis internode. Spikelets 8–10 mm long, 2–4 together in each spike, glabrous. Lower glume 3–4 mm long, truncate, pallid; upper 5 mm long, truncate or notched, the nerves merging near the apex to form 2 keels. Lower lemma sterile as long as the spikelet, keeled upwards with a scaberulous tip; palea 2-keeled, 2-toothed. Upper lemma bisexual, firm to hardened, 7–8 mm long, obscurely 5-nerved; palea 5 mm long, prolonged into a bristle-like tip.
Distribution and occurrence: Rare, in open grassland, in gilgai and small depressions on heavy soil plains of the arid and semiarid.
NSW subdivisions: NWP, NFWP
Other Australian states: Qld S.A. N.T.
Text by Jacobs, S.W.L., Whalley, R.D.B. & Wheeler, D.J.B.
Taxon concept: Grasses of New South Wales, Fourth Edition (2008).
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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