Common Love-grass - native (Eragrostis brownii)

Native. Perennial. C4.

Family. Poaceae (Grass family).

Identification

• it is a spreading or erect grass to half a metre high
• the flower cluster is an open spray
• the glumes are shorter than the lemmas
• the spikelets have numerous, closely arranged florets
• the spikelets are almost stalkless, and grey-green to purplish green
• the leaves are flat or rolled
• the ligule is 0.3-0.5mm long and shortly hairy.

The leaves do not have raised glands, nor are there yellow stripes below the nodes (as is the case for Eragrostis cilianensis.)

It is a variable grass. The spikelets are 5-12mm long, and held at an angle to the branches (compared with some species where the spikelets are close to the branches). The florets are neatly arranged on either side of the spikelet, as is the case with many love grasses.

eros: love, agrostis: grass, referring to the delicate flower clusters of some species. brownii: honouring Robert Brown, a leading English botanist 1773-1858, and the botanist with Flinders on the Investigator.

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