Lachnagrostis littoralis (Hack.) Edgar

Usually dense, light or greyish green, or glaucous, annual tufts; branching intravaginal. Leaf-sheath finely striate. Ligule oblong, tapered, subobtuse or denticulate, or later lacerate. Leaf-blade firm, abaxially smooth or minutely papillose, sometimes scabrid above, adaxially minutely scabrid on ribs; margins minutely scabrid, tip acute to subobtuse. Culm included within leaf-sheaths, internodes very finely scabrid below panicle, rarely visible until culm breaks up at maturity. Panicle delicate, ± contracted, later spreading, enclosed at base by sheath of uppermost culm-leaf; branches and branchlets ± erect, all ± equal in length, scabrid, naked for much of their length, the ultimate branchlets tipped by 1–2 spikelets. Spikelets light green or greenish brown. Glumes smooth, keel scabrid, margins hyaline, finely scabrid above. Lemma to ¾ length of glumes, 5-nerved, with scattered to rather dense short silky hairs, often glabrous above, lateral nerves shortly excurrent, faintly scabrid; awn ± middorsal. Palea slightly < lemma, keels minutely excurrent, faintly scabrid at tip. Callus hairs dense, very short, to ⅕ length of lemma. Rachilla prolongation almost 0, or very short and tipped by a longer hair tuft. Lodicules linear, acute.

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