Agrostis drummondiana (Steud.) Vickery, Contr. New South Wales Natl Herb. 1: 111 (1941).

Dichelachne drummondiana Steud., Syn. Pl. Glumac. 120 (1854); Deyeuxia drummondiana (Steud.) Benth., Fl. Austral. 7: 580 (1878). T: South-west Australia, W.A., Drummond 371; T: K, n.v.

Vegetative form. Annual, caespitose. Culms 40-60 cm high, 4 noded. Mid-culm nodes glabrous, hidden by the leaf sheaths (internodes shorter than sheath). Mid-culm internodes glabrous. Leaves non-auriculate. Basal leaf sheaths not keeled, terete, scabrous (between the veins), with the veins equally striate. Ligule 3-7 mm long, membranous, occasionally distinctly veined, acute to obtuse, abaxially glabrous or hairy. Leaf blades basally flat and involute (above), linear, 30-150 mm long, 1-3 mm wide; adaxially scabrous, shallowly grooved; abaxially scabrous; with margins scabrous, apices acuminose.

Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual. Incomplete spikelets absent. Inflorescence of chasmogamous spikelets.

Inflorescence. Inflorescence a panicle, yellowish green, loosely contracted, 20-30 mm wide, oblong to ovate, symmetrical, partially exserted or fully exserted. Peduncles scabrous. Rachides 150-250 mm long, scabrous. Primary inflorescence branches scabrous; clustered, unequal, narrowly spreading (bare at the base), filiform, verticillate.

Hermaphrodite (`perfect') spikelets. Hermaphrodite spikelets pedicellate, 5-6 mm long, laterally compressed, not disarticulating as a separate unit, disarticulating above the glumes. Pedicels slender, scabrous. Glumes two per spikelet, diverging from the spikelets, dissimilar, unequal in length, exceeding the florets, longer than the proximal lemma (c. twice the lemma length). Lower glume longer than the upper glume, membranous, keeled, acuminate, muticous; 1 veined, midvein scabrous. Upper glume membranous, keeled, acuminate, muticous; 1 veined, midvein scabrous. Rudimentary florets absent. Incomplete florets absent. Hermaphrodite florets 1 per spikelet. Rachilla silky (?; hairs to 1.3 mm long), apically prolonged; prolongation 0.5 mm long. Callus present, blunt. Lemma less firm than the glumes, laterally compressed, ovate, c. 3 mm long, membranous, not keeled, truncate, dentate, 4 -lobed (the lateral teeth c. 0.5 mm long, the dorsal teeth short); awned. Lemma 5 veined. Lemma intercostal regions villous, the hairs over the entire dorsal surface. Awns 1, much exserted, median. Median awn much longer than the body of the lemmas, 7-10 mm long, 1 veined, dorsal; arising from the mid-point of the lemma, geniculate, column twisted. Palea fully developed, 2/3s the length of the lemma, 2-2.3 mm long, membranous, shortly bidentate; intercostal regions glabrous (?). Lodicules 2, hyaline, ovate. Stamens 3. Anthers c. 0.5 mm long. Ovary glabrous. Styles 2, free to their bases.

Fruit. Fruit narrow elliptical to oblong, glabrous.

Distribution. Endemic. Western Australia.

Classification. Pooideae; Poodae; Aveneae.

References. Morphology: Vickery Contr. N.S.W. Natl Herb. 1: 111 (1941).

Cite this publication as:
C.M. Weiller, M.J. Henwood, J. Lenz and L. Watson (1995 onwards). `Pooideae (Poaceae) in Australia - Descriptions and Illustrations'. URL http://muse.bio.cornell.edu/delta/
Dallwitz (1980) and Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993) should also be cited.

References and Acknowledgements