Chionochloa crassiuscula (Kirk) Zotov

Short, shining tussock with smooth, pungent leaves, twisting or straight but deciduous and leaving many imbricate old sheaths. Leaf-sheath to 12 cm, shining above, darkened below, sometimes purpled or reddened, persistent, entire, compressed, sometimes apical tuft of hairs to 1 mm. Leaf-blade to 30 cm × 6 mm, keeled, pungent, conduplicate, disarticulating at ligule, abaxially glabrous except for prickle-teeth towards apex, adaxially papillate but with some prickle-teeth especially near ligule; margin thickened, long hairs below or sometimes with prickle-teeth. Culm to 65 cm, often purpled, often hairy below inflorescence. Inflorescence to 15 cm, open, pulvinate; spikelets often paired on flexuous branches; rachis, branches and pedicels with mixed long and short hairs or rachis hairy on margins only. Spikelets of up to 7 golden florets. Glumes thin, purpled, acute or mucronate from between teeth or aristate to erose, ≥ adjacent lemma lobes; lower to 12 mm, shortly 1–3-nerved, glabrous, upper to 16 mm, 5–7-nerved, margin often long hairy below otherwise glabrous. Lemma to 6 mm, shining; hairs dense at margin and aside central nerve, < sinus; lateral lobes to 6.5 mm including awn to 3 mm, or triangular-acute or long acute; central awn to 12 mm slightly twisting and markedly reflexed from flat column to 2 mm. Palea to 7 mm. Callus to 1 mm, hairs to 2.5 mm. Rachilla to 1.5 mm. Lodicules to 2 mm. Anthers to 4 mm. Gynoecium: ovary to 0.75 mm; stigma-styles to 3.5 mm. Caryopsis to 3 mm.

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