Perennial tussocks, solitary but occasionally sward forming; branching intravaginal, sometimes extravaginal; leaf sheaths usually clothing bases of plants, entire or fracturing into irregular segments; abaxially glabrous or with minute or conspicuous internerve hairs, with tuft of hairs at apex; adaxially glabrous rarely bearing short hairs. Ligule a ring of hairs usually c. 1 mm long. Lamina 5 cm to 1.5 m long, glaucous, flat to V-shaped, or junceous, often sharp pointed, many nerved, persistent or disarticulating at ligule or falling with part of sheath; abaxially usually glabrous except for prickle teeth towards apex, occasionally hairy; adaxially prickletoothed or papillate, rarely unornamented, sometimes densely pilose at base; margins usually long hairy below, prickle-toothed or glabrous above. Culm to 2 m, erect, exceeding leaves; nodes prominent; internodes usually glabrous. Inflorescence an open panicle of few to many spikelets, or compact and clavate, glabrous to conspicuously long hairy, usually with long hairs at branch axils. Spikelets of few to several florets, pale, golden, or purpled; disarticulation above glumes and between florets. Glumes unequal, linear, acute or rarely awned; lower 1-3-nerved, upper 3-5-7- nerved; glabrous, very occasionally prickle-toothed, sometimes upper glume long hairy on lower margin. Lemma 7-9-nerved; 2 lateral lobes, awned or triangular-acute, rarely prickle-toothed; dense hairs on margins and in columns in all, few, or no internerves, < sinus; central awn straight or reflexed from twisting, flat or indistinct column between lateral lobes. Palea > lemma sinus, bikeeled, usually shallowly bidentate, flanks long hairy below, keels ciliate on margins; interkeels infrequently prickletoothed, rarely hairy. Callus short, blunt with long hairs covering lower lemma. Stamens 3; anthers caudate, shorter and white in male-sterile flowers. Lodicules 2, irregularly rhomboidal and lobed, nerved; margins long hairy especially above. Gynoecium bistylar, glabrous, ovary < lodicules. Caryopsis obovate, smooth or rugose, free within bracts; embryo 1/3 + ½ caryopsis length; hilum linear, ½-2/3 caryopsis length. Flowering chasmogamous. Confined to New Zealand and its subantarctic islands, and to Australia and Lord Howe I.

2n = c. 42

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Plants mostly coarse, forming tussocks 20 cm to 2-5 m tall. Leaves mostly deeply grooved with microhairs at the bottom of grooves; silica cells mostly round, occasionally dumb-bell shaped; spikelets several-flowered; lemma mostly 7—9 - nerved, distinctly lobed; awn a conspicuous prolongation of middle nerve, mostly bent or twisted at base; grain small, narrow; hilum linear, about half the length of grain; flowers hermaphrodite; lodicules 2, ± asymmetrically Ungulate, long ciliate; stamens 3; styles 2; caryopsis free, 3-4 mm long, narrow oblong, glabrous, embryo 1/3 to ½ length of caryopsis.

Gramen plerumque durum, perenne, dense caespitosum, 20 cm usque ad 2-5 m altum; folia plerumque profunde sulcata, microtrichibus in sulcis imis; cellulae siliceae plerumque rotundae, interdum halteriformes; spiculae pluriflorae; lemma plerumque 7-9 - nerve, distincte lobatum; arista manifeste e medio nervo producta, basi saepissime torta geniculataque; caryopsis parva, angusta; hilum lineare ca. dimidio caryopse brevius; flores hermaphroditi; lodiculae 2, ± asymmetrice lingulatae, longe ciliatae; stamina 3, styli 2; caryopsis libera, 3—4 mm longa, angusto-oblonga, glabra; embryo tertia pars vel dimidium caryopsis.