| 1. | Raceme 1-2 jointed | 2 |
| Racemes 3-many jointed | 7 | |
| 2. | Awn to 7mm long or absent | 3 |
| Awn to 17mm long | 4 | |
| 3. | Tufted plant with setaceous leaf blades | C. setifolius (NT WA QLD) |
| Creeping plant with flat or folded leaf blades | C. aciculatus (NT QLD) | |
| 4. | Callus 4-6mm long | C. pallidus (NT WA QLD) |
| Callus 1.5-3.5mm long | 5 | |
| 5. | Leaf-blades 1-2cm wide | C. latifolius (NT WA) |
| Leaf-blades much less than 1cm wide | 6 | |
| 6. | Lower leaf-sheaths not flabellate, breaking up into fibres; racemes mostly 1-jointed |
C. fallax (NSW NT SA WA QLD) |
| Lower leaf-sheaths flattened, not breaking up into fibres; racemes mostly 2-jointed |
C. sylvaticus (NSW QLD) | |
| 7. | Sessile spikelets awnless | *C. zizanioides (QLD) |
| Sessile spikelets awned | 8 | |
| 8. | Sessile spikelets more than 8mm long, callus more than 2.5mm long |
9 |
| Sessile spikelets less than 7.5mm long, callus less than 2mm long |
10 | |
| 9. | Inflorescence branches weak and filiform; racemes 3.5-9cm long |
C. filipes (NSW NT QLD) Vetiveria filipes, V. intermedia |
| Inflorescence branches rather rigid; racemes 1.5-4cm long |
C. rigidus (QLD) Vetiveria rigida |
|
| 10. | Callus hairs 0.75-1.5mm long, ± fulvous; racemes 2-3-jointed |
C. oliganthus (NT WA QLD) Vetiveria pauciflora |
| Callus hairs 2-3mm long, whitish; racemes 3-6-jointed |
C. elongatus (NT QLD) Vetiveria elongata |
Key to Chrysopogon is derived from Blake 1944b, Veldkamp 1999
Taxonomic name: