Lachnagrostis adamsonii subsp. ampla
A.J.Br.Short-lived perennial; culms 1.5–3 mm wide, occasionally branching at nodes in very mature plants. Leaf blades (1–)1.5–2 mm wide when unflattened. Spikelets (3.3–)3.5–4 mm long, greyish- to purplish-green; rachilla extension (1–)1.5–2.5 mm long; lemma 2.5–3.3 mm long, entire or toothed with minute setae to 0.3 mm long, back and/or lateral faces with few to some hairs 0.5 mm long; awn arising from 60–75% of the lemma length from its base, 3–4.4 mm long; dehisced anthers (0.6–)0.7–1 mm long. Nov.–Dec.
VVP. Confined to a few sites in the central region of the Volcanic Plain in western Victoria where occurring in saline swamps and drainage lines that remain inundated or waterlogged over the majority of the summer.
The inflorescences of subsp. ampla remain partly enclosed and contracted by the leaf sheaths until late maturity, when the lower leaf blades and sheaths have already senesced and much of the seed has fallen. Because of this, mid-season plants appear to have smaller inflorescences in relation to their culms. While mature specimens usually exceed 60 cm in overall height, it is not unusual for mid-season plants of subspp. adamsonii and limosa to reach the same height, except they display a much higher proportion of inflorescence to leafy tussock, particularly as their panicles are more or less fully exserted and actively spreading at this time.Some plants collected in saline waterholes in the Mt. Weejort area have slightly smaller spikelets than typical for the subspecies but do conform in respect to lemma awn and anther length and general growth habit (e.g. culm and leaf width, partly enclosed inflorescences).
SpinningBrown, A.J. (2015). Subspeciation in Lachnagrostis adamsonii (Poaceae). Muelleria 34: 15–22.