The ability of many of our native grasses to survive long periods without rain is raising their profile among landholders who want to know which grass is which.

In answer to this need, NSW DPI and the Northern Rivers CMA have just released a colour book illustrating 75 of the North Coast’s most common native and naturalised grasses. Grasses of the North Coast of NSW is the work of Harry Rose, Carol Rose and Tac Campbell, all of NSW DPI.

Each page features a single species with common and scientific name, photos of the foliage and seedhead, information on growth habit, distribution, management and a list of plants that look similar.

“In this region there are around 325 native and naturalised grasses but we have concentrated on the more widespread and common pasture and roadside species,” says Carol Rose.

“We developed the book because we were running native grass workshops and found great interest from farmers, bush regenerators and landcarers who wanted to know what they had on their land, but there wasn’t anything that covered our area.

“Many farmers want to manage their pastures better, but they need to know what they have before they can manage it.

“Rotational grazing is stimulating a lot of interest in pastures, but the drought has also stirred people’s curiosity as they notice certain plants surviving or others moving in and want to know whether the changes are good or bad.

“I had one landholder come in with a plant that was beginning to dominate his pastures and he hadn’t seen before; it turned out to be a native grass that had survived the drought.

“Some grasses are also useful indicators of soil condition. For instance pastures changing from kikuyu to carpet grass indicates nutrient decline. Elastic grass moves in when the soil is too compacted for most other species to grow.”

The book includes useful illustrations on seedheads, plant structure and spikelet structure to help readers learn to quickly recognise grass species.

“In their vegetative state, grasses can be very difficult to tell apart, so this book concentrates on the flowering stage, when there are distinct and easy to recognise differences.”

Carol Rose warns that the management information is general, as there is little detailed scientific information available for many native grasses.

“Some grass species may be valuable fodder to certain landholders, but a weed to others,” she says.

“Hence, to obtain detailed management advice that is specific to your situation, talk to your local advisor.”

To obtain a copy of the North Coast guide, ring NSW DPI’s Kempsey office on (02) 6562 6244.