The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Dichelachne crinita

Etymology

Dichelachne: two-pronged and woolly
crinita: long-haired

Common Name(s)

long-hair plume grass

Current Conservation Status

2012 - Not Threatened

Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2012 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2009 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, Paul D. Champion, Shannel P. Courtney, Peter B. Heenan, John W. Barkla, Ewen K. Cameron, David A. Norton and Rodney A. Hitchmough. File size: 792KB

Previous Conservation Status

2009 - Not Threatened
2004 - Not Threatened

Authority

Dichelachne crinita (L.f.) Hook.f.

Family

Poaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

DICCRI

Structural Class

Grasses

Synonyms

Anthoxanthum crinitum L.f., Dichelachne forsteriana Trin. et Rupr., Deyeuxia crinita (L.f.) Zotov

Distribution

Indigenous. Throughout North, South, Stewart, Chatham and Kermadec Islands. Also in Australia and most of the Pacific Islands.

Habitat

Coastal to subalpine. Usually in open ground under light scrub, under light forest cover, in tussock grassland, on clay pans and along roadsides. Also frequently encountered on rock outcrops, in associated talus, on boulderfield and as an urban weed of rough pasture, kerbsides and industrial wasteland.

Features

Light green to yellow-green, stout, tall tufted grass. Branching extravaginal. Leaves less than or equal to the erect to somewhat nodding narrow plumed culms. Leaf-sheath light brown, with minute, soft, appressed, retrorse hairs. Ligule 0.5-1.5 mm, membranous, undersides minutely scabrid, more or less truncate, minutely ciliate, occasionally asymmetric. Leaf-blade up to 400 x 1.5-5.0 mm, stiff, flat or slightly inrolled, gradually tapering, strongly ribbed, underside scabrid near apex, upper surface minutely scabrid on margins and ribs. Culm 0.3-1.2 m, internodes glabrous or minutely scaberulous below panicle. Panicle 100-250 mm, erect, spicate, light green to straw-yellow, often tinged with purple, densely branched, close-set, erect branches hidden by spikelets pulled together by entwining awns; rachis, branchlets and pedicels closely short-scabrid; spikelets, numerous, glossy. Glumes very narrow, linear-lanceolate, silvery; lower 4.5-9.0 mm, more or less equal to glume, shortly aristate, upper 5.5-10.0 mm long, equal to or greater than lemma, apex acuminate. Lemma 4.5-8.0 mm long, minutely scabrid, apex scarcely bifid; awn 20-30 mm, light green to purple, inserted 1.5-3.0 mm below lemma apex, column straight, awn more or less falcate and twisted about once. Palea 3-5 mm long, very narrow, keels minutely scabrid near ciliate apex. Callus hairs to 0.7 mm. Rachilla prolongation 0.1 mm long. Lodicules 0.5-0.7 mm long, membranous, elliptic, acute, apically ciliate. Anthers 1-3, 0.7-2.0 mm in opened flowers, 0.2-0.9 mm long in cleistogamous flowers. Seed 2.0-2.5 x 0.3-0.4 mm.

Similar Taxa

Allied to the naturally uncommon, range restricted D. lautumia Connor et Edgar from which it differs by the callus hairs with are less than 1 mm long (greater than or equal to 3 mm long in D. lautumia), awns 20-30 mm rather than 8-12 mm long, and by the straight rather than twisted column.

Flowering

September - February

Fruiting

October - July

Propagation Technique

Easily grown from fresh seed. Easily established and can become invasive. The stiffly erect, dense whitist-yellow plume like flower heads can be rather attractive if grown in mass.

Threats

Not Threatened

Chromosome No.

2n = 70

Endemic Taxon

No

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Florets are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).

This page last updated on 11 Aug 2014