Aristida calycina var. praealta
Poir.Slender tufted perennial, culms erect, branched or simple, to c .90 cm high; leaves mostly cauline, sheaths smooth and glabrous; blade flat, folded or inrolled, to 18 cm long and 3 mm wide when flattened, glabrous below (abaxially), shortly hispid above; ligule densely ciliate, c. 0.3 mm long. Inflorescence a sparse, slender or slightly spreading panicle, to 25 cm long; glumes purplish, subequal, usually the upper slightly (to c. 2 mm) longer than the lower, narrowly acuminate or shortly mucronate, 6–11 mm long, the lower glume caducous; lemma involute, narrow-cylindric, 8–10 mm long, glabrous except for short, white callus hairs, surface smooth except for tuberculate margins of at least the apical half of the ventral groove, pale or purplish with darker mottling; awn branches 10–18 mm long, the lateral pair shorter by 2–5 mm than the central one. Flowers May–June (1 record), or probably, after rains.
MuF. Also Qld, NSW. Known in Victoria from one collection near Nathalia where growing on a low sandy rise in open woodland.
Very close to Aristida jerichoensis var. subspinulifera which also has the lemma groove with tuberculate margins. It differs in its slightly larger florets.
