Rytidosperma geniculatum

Rytidosperma geniculatum (J.M.Black) Connor & Edgar (Poaceae), kneed wallaby grass, is a small tufted perennial grass endemic to southern Australia, including Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia and southern New South Wales. It forms compact, low tussocks 10-30 cm tall, with short, narrow, often inrolled glaucous green leaves usually less than 10 cm long arising from a basal sheath. The slender, geniculate (sharply bent) culms give the species its epithet. Inflorescences are short, contracted panicles 2-5 cm long bearing relatively few spikelets; each spikelet contains several florets with a characteristic transverse ring of white hairs on the lemma and twisted, geniculate awns typical of the genus. It grows in dry sclerophyll woodland, native grassland and on rocky slopes, often on shallow, well-drained soils, and is a component of temperate Australian native pasture communities. Reproduction is by seed and short rhizomes.