Knotty Spear-grass - native (Austrostipa nodosa)

Alternative names: Stipa nodosa

Family. Poaceae (Grass family).

Native. Perennial. C3.

Identification:

• it is a tall grass (a metre or more)
• the panicle is usually open and rather sparse and to 50cm long
• the glumes are longer than the lemma body
• the spikelets have a single lemma
• the lemma is awned and the awn becomes sickle-shaped
• the leaves are rolled or flat
• the nodes (along the stalk) are smooth (i.e. hairless)
• the ligule is membranous, truncate, fringed or not, and 0.5-1mm long
• the lemmas are 4-7mm long (excluding the awn), golden-brown (when mature), and with white to pale yellow hairs
• the glumes are 10-15mm long
• the awns are 45-90mm long and with very short hairs.

An uncommon grass. The awn is once-bent, and the awn above the bend is curved into a sickle-shape

nodosa: knotty, gnarled, usually referring to roots and stems.