Deyeuxia frigida
F.Muell. ex Benth.Tufted or shortly rhizomatous perennial, culms rather stout, erect, to 150 cm high, usually purplish about the nodes and near the base. Leaves finely scabrous; blade flat, to 30 cm long and 7 mm wide (rarely more); ligule toothed or laciniate, 1–4 mm long. Inflorescence a loose panicle 15–35 cm long with branches widely spreading at maturity, the lower of which are bare toward the bases. Spikelets 4–5.5 mm long, usually somewhat purplish, maturing to straw-coloured; glumes gaping at maturity, narrowly acute, the lower shorter than the upper by c. 1 mm or more, scabrous along the keel; lemma subequal to upper glume, acute, rather coarsely scabrous, awned from about the middle; awn readily deciduous, twisted at base, about as long as lemma; callus hairs to c. 1.2 mm long; rachilla bristle c. 1 mm long, usually with a terminal tuft of hairs 0.5–1 mm long; anthers c. 2 mm long. Flowers Dec.–Apr.
GipP, OtP, CVU, NIS, EGL, EGU, HSF, HNF, OtR, MonT, HFE, VAlp. Also NSW. Occasional in tall montane forest and Snow-gum woodlands (rarely above treeline) in eastern Victoria where usually in rocky sites. Also in tall wet forest of the southern Otways where apparently rare.
The distinction between this species and D. rodwayi is not always clear and the characters generally used (spikelet length, habit of plant, equivalence of glumes, and to a lesser extent, anther length) seem to be more or less continuous between the species. The two taxa might perhaps be better regarded as belonging to the same species and recognized at a subspecific level. In such a case, D. frigida, the earlier name, would have priority.
Walsh, N.G. (1994). Poaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 356–627. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
