Queensland Blue-grass - native (Dichanthium sericeum)

Other names: Blue-grass.

Uncommon. A record from Moolort.

Native. Perennial or annual. C4.

Identification

• the flowers are on terminal arms which are held almost erect
• the glumes and lemmas are densely silky hairy
• the glumes exceed the lemma bodies
• the spikelets have one awned, bisexual floret, the other spikelet is stalked, and male or sterile, and unawned (an empty lemma inside two glumes)
• the lower lemma is long awned
• the leaves are flat
• the ligules are 1-1.5mm long, truncate, with longer side hairs.

Queensland Blue-grass is a windmill grass - the flowers are arranged on radiating arms.

Queensland Blue-grass (Dichanthium sericeum) is similar in appearance to Redleg Grass. Redleg Grass has reddish stems, a conspicuous sunken pit on the lower glumes, and the nodes (of the stems) are hairless or almost so (any hairs less than 1mm). The nodes of Queensland Blue-grass are densely hairy (2mm long), and the glumes are not pitted.

dicha: divided into two, anthos: flower, referring to the two kinds of spikelets sericeum: with silky hairs.