Annual Beard-grass
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| Scientific Name: | Polypogon monspeliensis |  Annual Beard-grass Photo: ex-Matters & Bozon |
Common Name: | Annual rabbits-foot-grass | |
Status: | Native to Europe, Asia and North Africa. Naturalised across Australia except in the Northern Territory. | |
Plant Description: | Annual and erect grass up to 90 cm tall. Leaves are hairless but slightly rough, flat to 20 cm long and 8 mm wide. Flower-head is a soft, cigar-shaped, dense panicle from 2-15 cm long and 1-3.5 cm wide, pale yellow-green with a silvery tinge to yellowish-brown with maturity. Flowers in spring. | |
Habitat: | Damp clay loams and clays. | |
Comments: | Similar to the smaller Coast Beard-grass (Polypogon maritimus) which can also be found in sandy saline soils. Coast Beard-grass differs from Annual Beard-grass in having leaves and flower-heads to 5 cm long only, and florets without awns [note: the glumes or husks surrounding the florets of both species are awned]. |
 Annual Beard-grass - plant Photo: A J Brown |  Annual Beard-grass - emerging flowerheads. Photo: A J Brown |  Annual Beard-grass - young flowerhead Photo: A J Brown |
 Annual Beard-grass - mature flowerhead Photo: A J Brown |  Annual Beard-grass - closeup of mature flowerhead Photo: A J Brown |  |
Related Links
Plants for a future: Annual Beard-grass (Polypogon monspeliensis) (external link)
© The State of Victoria, 1996 - 2009.
This document was last reviewed on 05/08/2009