Classification
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Poa dipsacea Petrie, Trans. & Proc. New Zealand Inst. 26: 271 (1893 [1894])
Synonymy:
  • Poa kirkii var. dipsacea (Petrie) Zotov, Trans. Roy. Soc. New Zealand 73: 236 (1943)
Holotype: "Source of Broken River, 3500-4000 ft", D. P[etrie], WELT 68267a!; isotype WELT 68267b! The holotype is annotated in Petrie's hand "P. dipsacea sp. nov.; at Kew they suggest that this may be Poa mackayi but I have seen the type of the latter in Mr B's [Buchanan's] Herbarium and this is perfectly distinct".
  • = Poa cheesemanii Hack., Trans. New Zealand Inst. 35: 383 (1903)
  • Poa kirkii var. cheesemanii (Hack.) Zotov, Trans. Roy. Soc. New Zealand 73: 236 (1943)
Holotype: "Lake Tennyson, Nelson Mts, 3000 ft", T. F. Clheeseman] no. 1416 to Hackel, W 11052!; isotypes WELT 66397 (labelled "Lake Tennyson, T. F. Cheeseman, type specimen" in Petrie's hand)!, AK 1855(1),(2),(3)!, with fragment CHR 41962!, these specimens are dated Jan. 1893. In the protologue Hackel cited Cheeseman's no. 1316 in error.
  • = Poa wallii Petrie, Trans. & Proc. New Zealand Inst. 54: 571-572 (1923)
Lectotype: "Craigieburn Mrs, Canterbury Alps, c. 6000 ft", A. Wall, Mid. Feb., 1921, WELT 66662a!; isotypes WELT 66662b!, CHR 6760!
 Description

Erect, open, rather stiff, shortly rhizomatous perennial tufts, to c. 30 cm, with leaves blue-green abaxially and bright green adaxially; branching extravaginal; leaf-blades persistent. Leaf-sheath light-coloured, green to creamy brown or purplish, later grey, membranous, shining, glabrous, obviously ribbed. Ligule c. 0.5–1 mm, apically glabrous, truncate to obtuse, abaxially smooth or with a few minute prickle-teeth. Leaf-blade (1.5)–5–20–(25) cm × 1.5–3–(4) mm, flat or folded, subcoriaceous, abaxially smooth, adaxially usually minutely scabrid on midrib and lateral ribs near blunt, curved tip; margins smooth or scabrid, sometimes with short hairs just above ligule. Culm (4.5)–10–20–(35) cm, erect, often only slightly overtopping leaves but sometimes much longer, internodes glabrous. Panicle (2.5)–4–6–(9.5) cm, open, with 1–(3) large spikelets borne at tips of slender smooth branches; pedicels usually smooth, rarely slightly scabrid. Spikelets 5–8.5 mm, (3)–4–5–(7)-flowered, light green to usually purplish. Glumes rather unequal, elliptic, subacute to subobtuse, submembranous, smooth except occasionally for some minute prickle-teeth on midnerve; lower 2.5–5 mm, (1)–3-nerved, upper 3.5–5–(6) mm, 3–(5)-nerved. Lemma 3.5–5.5 mm, 5–(7)-nerved, elliptic-oblong, subobtuse, long-ciliate on midnerve in lower ½ and on lateral nerves near base, scabrid on midnerve above hairs and usually on lateral nerves, internerves usually glabrous. Palea 3–4.5 mm, keels ciliate-scabrid, interkeel with sparse minute hairs, or glabrous. Callus with web of soft tangled hairs. Rachilla c. 0.5 mm, very minutely papillose. Lodicules 0.5–0.7 mm. Anthers 1.6–2.7 mm. Caryopsis c. 2 × 0.7 mm. 2n= 28.

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

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Bibliography
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Not Threatened]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Not Threatened]
Edgar, E. 1986: Poa L. in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 24: 425–503.
Häckel, E. 1903: On New Species of Grasses from New Zealand. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute 35: 377–385.
Petrie, D. 1894 ("1893"): Descriptions of New Native Plants, & c. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 26: 266–274.
Petrie, D. 1923: Descriptions of New Native Flowering Plants. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 54: 569–572.
Zotov, V.D. 1943: Certain Changes in the Nomenclature of New Zealand Species of Gramineae. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand 73: 233–238.