About Chionochloa australis (Buchanan) Zotov
Chionochloa australis (Buchanan) Zotov is a perennial grass. It grows in wide grass mats in montane areas. Its leaves are short and densely packed, while its culms can reach up to 400mm in length. Around four spikelets, which contain up to 8 purple florets, grow on long branchlets. This species is distinctive for having adaxial sheath hairs, projecting leaf-blade hairs, and hanks of hairs at the sheath apex. It is currently only known from the South Island of New Zealand, where it grows in montane herbfields and grasslands ranging from Nelson to Canterbury. Unverified records of this species exist from Fiordland and Campbell Island.
