Andropogon virginicus L.

Erect, coarse, perennial tufts, 50–70 cm, light greenish brown, tinged reddish; branching intravaginal. Leaf-sheath keeled, strongly folded, firmly chartaceous, light green to straw-coloured, glabrous but margins long-villous. Ligule c. 0.5 mm, a ciliolate rim. Leaf-blade 5–20 cm ×c. 2–5 mm, linear, coriaceous, flat or folded, somewhat keeled with prominent midrib, abaxially glabrous, adaxially finely scabrid on ribs and long-villous towards base; margins finely scabrid. Culm c. 25 cm, compressed, internodes glabrous. Inflorescence 25–40 cm, narrow-linear, interrupted; branches slender, erect, subtended by spathe-like leaves and bearing a few spatheate clusters of racemes at apex; upper spathes 3–6 cm, acuminate, tawny. Racemes fragile, c. 2 cm, 2–4 on a very short common peduncle, shorter than and mostly included within spathe; rachis very slender, long-villous. Pedicelled spikelet: usually reduced to villous pedicel, rarely with 1–2 glumes. Sessile spikelet ☿: c. 3 mm, concealed by hairs, lanceolate, pale greenish; glumes very narrow, keels minutely scabrid; lemma of upper floret with very delicate straight awn, 10–15 mm; anthers and caryopsis not seen.

[From: Edgar and Connor (2000) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 5 (second printing).]