Aira provincialis Jord.,
Vegetative form. Slender
annual, erect or geniculate, caespitose. Culms to 50 cm high.
Leaves non-auriculate. Basal leaf sheaths scabrous. Ligule
to 11 mm long, membranous, acute. Leaf blades
supervolute (?), 0.3-0.5 mm wide, not stiff; adaxially
scabrous; abaxially scabrous.
Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual.
Inflorescence. Inflorescence a panicle, open, c. pyramidal, symmetrical, fully exserted. Rachides 120-220 mm long. Primary inflorescence branches divaricate, filiform.
Hermaphrodite (`perfect') spikelets. Hermaphrodite spikelets pedicellate, c. 3.5 mm long, laterally compressed, not disarticulating as a separate unit, disarticulating above the glumes. Pedicels 14-21 mm long (i.e. 4-6 times as long as the spikelet), slender, clavate, abruptly tapered to the apex. Glumes two per spikelet, similar, subequal, longer than the proximal lemma. Lower glume ovate, keeled, acute, entire, muticous, margin scabrous; 1 veined, midvein scaberulous; intercostal regions glabrous. Upper glume ovate, keeled, acute, entire, muticous, margin scabrous; 1 veined, midvein scaberulous; intercostal regions glabrous. Incomplete florets absent. Hermaphrodite florets 2 per spikelet. Rachilla disarticulating between the florets, disarticulating directly below the florets. Callus present, puberulous. Lemma laterally compressed, not keeled, acute, bifid; awned. Lemma veins obscure. Awns 1, median. Median awn about as long as the body of the lemmas to much longer than the body of the lemmas (?), in upper floret 3.5-4.5 mm long, 1 veined, dorsal; arising from the lower half of the lemma, geniculate. Palea slightly shorter than the lemmas (shorter), bidentate. Lodicules 2, free, hyaline. Stamens 3. Styles 2.
Distribution. Introduced. New South Wales. World distribution: Western Eurasia, USSR and Mediterranean (?).
Ecology. Mesophytic. Naturalised in parkland and disturbed woodland. Flowers spring-summer.
Classification. Pooideae; Poodae; Aveneae.
References. Morphology: Jacobs & Hastings (1994).
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.