Copper-awned Wallaby-grass - native (Rytidosperma fulvum)

Native. Perennial. C3.

Family. Poaceae (Grass family).

Copper-awned Wallaby-grass is a common in forests and grasslands.

Alternative names: Danthonia linkii var fulva, Austrodanthonia fulva.

Identification:

• the flower cluster is a compact spray
• the glumes are longer than the lemmas
• the lemmas are forked into two lobes with an awn rising bewteen the lobes
• the lemma has three complete rows of hairs on the back, with scattered hairs between the rows
• the leaves are flat or rolled
• the ligules have a row of hairs 0.8-1.2mm long.

It is sometimes late flowering e.g. early autumn. The flower cluster is long (6-12cm) and generally dense. The lemmas are distinctive; they have three rows of hair tufts, and there are scattered hairs on the back of the lemma. The awn is much twisted at the base and copper coloured.

Rytidosperma: with wrinkled seeds; fulvus: reddish brown, tawny, referring to the awn-base.