2. T. Youngii, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 335.—Culms tufted, slender, erect, pilose or glabrous, 1–3 ft. high. Leaves mostly at the base of the culms and much shorter than them, 112–14 in. broad, flat, smooth, pilose with long soft hairs; sheaths grooved, glabrous or pilose; ligules shore, truncate, lacerate, hyaline. Panicle slender, very narrow, 2–8 in. long; rhachis pilose; branches short, close, suberect, few-flowered, also pilose. Spikelets compressed, pale-green or yellow-brown, shining, 1–3-flowered, about ⅕ in. long. Two outer glumes almost as long as the flowering glumes, subequal or the lower about ¼ shorter than the upper, oblong or oblong-obovate, suddenly acuminate, membranous, scabrid along the keel. Flowering glumes oblong-lanceolate, shortly 2-cuspidate, minutely rough on the back; awn from ⅕ to ¼ way down the back, rather stout, recurved, nearly as long again as the glume. Palea almost equalling the flowering glume. Ehachilla nearly glabrous, produced between the flowering glumes and above the upper flower.—Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 40b.
North Island: Mount Hikurangi, Adams and Petrie! Tararua Range, Buchanan! South Island: Not uncommon in subalpine localities, especially on the western side. 3000–5000 ft.
Best distinguished from T. antarcticum by the much broader oblong or oblong-obovate empty glumes; but it is usually a taller and more pilose plant, with a narrower panicle.
3. T. subspicatum, Beauv. Agrost. 88.—Culms densely tufted, stout or slender, pubescent or tomentose, in New Zealand specimens from 2 to 12 in. high, rarely more. Leaves numerous at the base of the culms and much shorter than them, firm, erect, rather strict, flat, more or less downy or almost glabrous, 112–16 in. broad; sheaths rather lax, deeply grooved; ligules short, scarious, lacerate. Panicle short and dense, cylindric or almost ovoid, rarely slightly lobed or interrupted at the base, ½–2 in. long; rhachis densely tomentose; branches short, erect. Spikelets compressed, whitish or yellowish-green, rarely purplish, shining, 2–3-flowered, ⅙–¼ in. long. Two outer glumes unequal, lanceolate, keeled, scabrid along the keel, the outer 1-nerved, the 2nd 3-nerved. Flowering glumes oblong-lanceolate, 2-cuspidate or shortly 2-awned at the tip, hairy at the base, keel scabrid above, sides minutely rough; awn from ⅙ to ¼ way down the back, longer than the glume, straight or recurved. Palea about ⅕ shorter than the flowering glume, 2-nerved, scabrid along the nerves.—Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 97; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 335; Benth. Fl. Austral. vii. 588; Buch. N.Z. Grasses, t. 40a.
South Island: Not uncommon in alpine and subalpine localities throughout. Auckland Islands: Kirk! Campbell Island: Sir J. D. Hooker! Usually from 3500 to 5500 ft., but descends almost to sea-level in the Auckland Islands.
A common alpine grass in most countries, extending into both arctic and antarctic regions.
