Common name: Southern Sheep-grass
Rytidosperma australe (Petrie) Clayton & Renvoize ex Connor & Edgar APNI* Description: Delicate tufted perennial, 2–8 cm high; culms erect, branched, smooth, glabrous; nodes sometimes swollen, glabrous.
Leaves with sheath longer than the internode, ribbed, glabrous; ligule a ciliate rim with hairs to 0.25 mm long; blade folded, bristle-like, glabrous.
Inflorescence a raceme 6–9 mm long, c. 0.4 mm wide, exserted, bearing 3 or 4 spikelets; rachis scabrous, glabrous. Spikelets c. 3 mm long, pedicels 0.5–1.5 mm long and scabrous, florets 1. Glumes 2–3 mm long, 3-nerved, glabrous; lower glume ovate, acute, upper glume elliptic, obtuse or acute. Lemmas 1.5–2 mm long, obtuse, minutely 3-toothed, glabrous. Palea narrow, as long as lemma, 2-keeled, keels and apex minutely ciliate.
Flowering: summer.
Distribution and occurrence: Grows in alpine scree slopes; south from Kosciusko area.
NSW subdivisions: ST
Other Australian states: Vic. Tas.
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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