African Love-grass - introduced (*Eragrostis curvula)

Native of southern Africa. Perennial. C4.

Family. Poaceae (Grass family).

Identification:

• it is an erect leafy grass to 1m
• the flower sprays become very open and diffuse
• the glumes are shorter than the lemmas
• the spikelets are very narrow, many-flowered and unawned and are a dark leaden-green colour
• the leaves are narrow, and curved at the tip
• the ligules are 0.3-1mm long and fringed.

The spikelets are small (less than 1.5mm wide and 4-10mm long) .

It is a noxious weed and listed Regionally Controlled in central Victoria.

African Love-grass is a troublesome weed, particularly in irrigation districts. It can form a dense sward that crowds out other plants. It differs from Weeping Love-grass in that the lower branches of the flower clusters of African Love-grass are not in whorls (rings), the spikelets are not pressed to the branch arms, and it forms dense leafy tussocks.

eros: love; agrostis: grass, referring to the delicate flower clusters of some species; curvula: with a short sharp curve, referring the the curved leaves.

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