Erect, densely tufted waxy blue summer growing perennial to about 80 cm tall. Leaves rolled in bud. Leaf blade flat, prominent white mid rib, blue-green, usually pubescent, to 15 cm long and 4 mm wide. Ligule membranous to 1-2 mm long. Inflorescence with 2-6 digitately arranged racemes, each 1-6 cm long, silky hairy. Spikelets with stalks sterile; stalkless ones with a tuft of silky hairs nearly as long as the spikelet. Lower glume 7-11 nerved, upper glume 3-nerved. Fertile lemma inconspicuous, with a twice bent, twisting awn 2-3 cm long.
All mainland Australian states, the Philippines, New Guinea, New Caledonia
Grown for the attractive blue foliage and ornamental flowering heads. Significant native pasture grass found in all mainland states and territories. Plentiful in Queensland and north-western New South Wales but with limited turf potential.
Source: (2005). Poaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.