Shell Grass - introduced (*Briza maxima)

Native to southern Europe. Annual. C3.

Family. Poaceae (Grass family).

Other names: Blowfly Grass, Quaking Grass.

Identification

• it has plump nodding spikelets on slender stalks
• the glumes are shorter than the spikelet
• the spikelets have 6-20 closely packed florets
• the leaves are flat
• the ligule is membranous, 2-5mm long and blunt
• the flower sprays have few spikelets
• the flower stalks are slender so the spikelets can move in light breezes (hence "quaking" and "blowfly")
• the spikelets are 7-25mm long and 6-15mm broad, which distinguishes this grass from Shivery Grass.

A very common forest weed. It is an environmental weed. This is one of the few introduced grasses that can thrive in the dry forests of central Victoria. It is less common in weedy grasslands.

Briza: a kind of rye; maxima: the largest.