Lachnagrostis filiformis
(Forst.)Trin. (1820).
Classification. (GPWG
2001) : Subfamily Pooideae. Tribe Poeae.
Basionym and/or
Replacement Name: Avena
filiformis G. Forst., Fl. Ins. Austr. 9 (1786).
Type of Basionym or
Protologue Information: LT: J.R. & G. Forster s.n., 1779, New
Zeeland (B-W-2208 (misit Sprengel); IT: BM, GOET, K, KIEL, LE, LINN-Sm.-135.32, MW-77, P, UPS). LT
designated by Edgar, New Zealand J. Bot. 33: 19 (1995) based on the New Zealand
specimen B-W-2208. Zizka, Palm. Hort. Franc. 3: 71 (1991) cited the same
specimen but did not clarify whether it was from New
Zealand or Easter Island.
See Nicolson (2002)..
Recent synonyms: Agrostis avenacea J.F.Gmel., L.
filiformis var. perennis .
Key references
(books and floras): [1878] G.Bentham, Flora Australiensis 7 (579 as Deyeuxia
forsteri), [1952] C.A.Gardner, Flora of Western Australia 1 Gramineae
(154 as Agrostis avenacea), [1969] E.E.Henty, Manual Grasses New
Guinea (25 as Agrostis avenacea), [1981] M.Lazarides in J.Jessop
(ed)., Flora of Central Australia (435 as Agrostis avenacea),
[2002] D.Sharp & B.K.Simon, AusGrass, Grasses of Australia, [2002]
J.Wheeler, N.Marchant & M.Lewington, Flora of the South West (394 as Agrostis
avenacea), [2006] J.Jessop, G.R.M.Dashorst, F.M.James, Grasses of South
Australia (229), [2008] S.W.L.Jacobs, R.D.B.Walley & D.J.B.Wheeler, Grasses
of New South Wales (290), [2009] A.Wilson (ed.). Flora of Australia,
Vol 44A. Poaceae 2 (180).
Illustrations:
[1952] C.A.Gardner, Flora of Western
Australia 1 Gramineae (153, Pl.46 as Agrostis
avenacea), [1984] N.T.Burbidge. rev. S.W.L.Jacobs, Australian Grasses (41, as Agrostis avenacea), [2006]
J.Jessop, G.R.M.Dashorst, F.M.James, Grasses of South Australia (229, fig. 173), [2008] S.W.L.Jacobs,
R.D.B.Whalley & D.J.B.Wheeler, Grasses of New South Wales, 4th edn
(290), [2009]. A.Wilson (ed.), Flora of Australia 44A: Poaceae 2
(182, Fig.26).
Habit. Annual
or perennial. Rhizomes present, short. Culms erect or geniculately ascending,
15–80 cm tall, 4 -noded. Mid-culm nodes glabrous. Leaves mostly basal.
Leaf-sheaths scaberulous, glabrous on surface. Ligule an eciliate membrane, 2–8
mm long, lacerate, obtuse or acute. Leaf-blades filiform, flat or conduplicate,
8–30 cm long, 1–3.5(–5) mm wide.
Inflorescence.
Inflorescence compound, a panicle. Panicle obovate, effuse, 10–30 cm long, with
spikelets clustered towards branch tips.
Spikelets.
Spikelets pedicelled. Fertile spikelets 1-flowered, comprising 1 fertile
floret(s), without rachilla extension, cuneate, laterally compressed, 2–4.5 mm
long.
Glumes. Glumes
similar, firmer than fertile lemma, shiny. Lower glume lanceolate, membranous,
keeled, 1-keeled, 1 -nerved. Upper glume lanceolate, 2.5 mm long, membranous,
keeled, 1-keeled, 1 -nerved.
Florets. Fertile
lemma 1–3.5 mm long, without keel, 4–5 -nerved. Lemma surface indumented. Lemma
apex dentate, awned. Median (principal) awn dorsal, 3.5–5.5 mm long overall,
with a twisted column. Palea 2 -nerved. Palea apex dentate. Lodicules present.
Anthers 3.
Continental
Distribution: Africa, Tropical Asia, Australasia, Pacific, North America,
and South America.
Australian
Distribution: Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia,
Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Norfolk I.
Western Australia: Giles, Austin.
Irwin, Drummond, Dale, Menzies, Warren, Eyre, Avon. Northern Territory:
Central Australia South. South Australia:
North-western, Lake Eyre, Nullabor, Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula,
Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island,
South-eastern. Queensland: Burke, South
Kennedy, Leichhardt, Burnett, Darling Downs, Gregory South, Maranoa, Moreton,
Port Curtis, Warrego, Wide
Bay. New South Wales:
North Coast, Central Coast, South Coast, Northern Tablelands, Central
Tablelands, Southern Tablelands, North-Western Slopes, Central-Western Slopes,
North-Western Plains, South-Western Plains, North Far Western Plains, South Far
Western Plains. Victoria: East Gippsland, Eastern Highlands, Gippsland
Highlands, Gippsland Plain, Grampians, Lowan Mallee, Midlands, Murray Mallee,
Otway Plain, Otway Range, Wilsons Promontory, Riverina, Snowfields, Volcanic
Plain, Wannon, Wimmera. Tasmania: Furneaux Group, North West, North
East, West Coast, Central Highlands, Midlands, Ben Lomond, East Coast, South
West.
Notes.
Occurring in all states and territories and Lord Howe Is. In New Zealand,
Polynesia, and naturalized in the western U.S.A. Widespread in a variety of
habitats but usually in damp sites from sea-level to highland areas, although
rare at higher altitudes. Flowers Sept.-Jan.
