The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Lachnagrostis littoralis subsp. littoralis

Etymology

Lachnagrostis: From "lachne" (wool) referring to the distinctive callus hairs of this genus and "agrostis" by which Trinius (1820) actually meant "a grass" (not an Agrostis). So the generic name means "a hairy (woolly) grass" not "a hairy (woolly) Agrostis" as is often incorrectly stated (see Gardner 2014).
littoralis: From the Latin littus 'shore', meaning shore-loving or growing on the shore

Common Name(s)

coastal wind 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

Lachnagrostis littoralis (Hack.) Edgar subsp. littoralis

Family

Poaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

Structural Class

Grasses

Synonyms

Deyeuxia forsteri var. littoralis Hack. comb. illeg., var. epithet legit., Lachnagrostis filiformis var. littoralis (Hack.) Zotov

Distribution

Endemic. Common in coastal habitats throughout the North Island, northern South Island and Chatham Islands

Habitat

Strictly coastal. Usually on exposed cliff faces, in coastal turf, and amongst boulders or on cobble beaches. Occasionally found in petrel scrub or in damp depressions within sand dune systems. Rarely found in estuaries on mud banks or amongst saltmarsh vegetation.

Features

Densely tufted, light green to greyish green or glaucous, annual grass 30-400 mm tall, whole plant often withering early and culms not breaking up below panicle. Branching intravaginal. Leaf-sheath finely striate, subhyaline, smooth or minutely scabrid above. Ligule 0.2-3.0 mm, oblong, tapered, subobtuse or denticulate, sometimes lacerate, undersides sparsely scabrid. Leaf-blade firm 10-80 x 1.5-5 mm, flat, or sometimes involute and 0.5 mm diameter, underside smooth or minutely papillose, rarely scabrid, upper surface minutely scabrid on ribs and margins, leaf tip acute to subobtuse. Culm 10-140 mm, included within leaf-sheaths, internodes finely scabrid below panicle, rarely visible until culm breaks up at maturity. Panicle 20-120 x 5-85 mm, delicate, ± contracted, later spreading, enclosed at base by sheath of uppermost culm-leaf; branches and branchlets ± erect, all ± equal in length, slender, sparsely scabrid, naked for much of their length, the ultimate branchlets tipped by 1-2 spikelets. Spikelets 2.5-6.0 mm, light green or greenish brown, slender. Glumes narrow elliptic-lanceolate, usually equal or the upper slightly shorter, acute to acuminate to shortly mucronate, 1-nerved, smooth, keel scabrid, margins hyaline, finely scabrid above. Lemma 1.5-2.5 mm long, oblong-ovate, 5-nerved with scattered to rather dense short silky hairs, often glabrous above, lateral nerves shortly excurrent, faintly scabrid; awn 3-6 mm long, ± mid-dorsal, geniculate, slightly twisted near base. Palea slightly < lemma, nerves 0.1-0.2 mm apart, keels minutely excurrent, faintly scabrid at apex. Callus hairs dense, very short, to 0.5 mm long covered one-fifth of lemma. Rachilla prolongation minute 0.2-1.0 mm, with hair tuft 0.5-1.5 mm long. Lodicules 0.7 mm long, linear, acute. Anthers 0.3-1.0 mm. Seed 1.0-1.5 x 0.4-0.7 mm.

Similar Taxa

Distinguished from L. littoralis subsp. salaria Edgar by the geniculate rather than curved awn, and generally smaller size. Lachnagrostis littoralis subsp. salaria is confined to the eastern South Island (from North Canterbury south) and Stewart Island. It is also a much coarser grass than subsp. littoralis. From L. filiformis it differs by the ± equal lengths of the naked primary and secondary panicle branches, and by the lemma usually 1.8-3.0 mm (cf. 1.3-2.0 mm long in L. filiformis) and anthers 0.4-0.7 rather than 0.2-0.5 mm long. Lachnagrostis littoralis subsp. littoralis further differs from L. filiformis in that it is strictly coastal and usually a much smaller, more delicate, annual grass.

Flowering

September - May

Fruiting

October - June

Propagation Technique

Easy from fresh seed. Can become invasive.

Threats

Not Threatened but can be uncommon over parts of its range

Chromosome No.

2n = 56

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

This page last updated on 10 Dec 2014