Neverfail

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Eragrostis setifolia

CATEGORY: C4  perennial

IDENTIFICATION TIPS

  • A tussocky warm-season rhizomatous  perennial growing to 60cm high, with a swollen and slightly-hairy base
  • Leaves normally rolled, especially  when dry
  • Seedhead is an open panicle to 16cm  long.  Spikelets have 9-36 small unawned  florets
  • Flowers in response to rain  throughout the year, but more common in spring and autumn

CLIMATIC & SOIL  REQUIREMENTS

  • Widespread and relatively common
  • Often more abundant in moister  areas, such as on the edges of bores, swamps and in water run-on areas
  • Occurs on a variety of soil types;  common on clayey soils and periodically flooded sandy loams
  • Moderately drought tolerant, but  frost sensitive

GRAZING & NUTRITIONAL  VALUE

  • Moderate grazing  value
  • No digestibility  figures are available
  • Crude protein 3-8%

MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

  • Moderately palatable and readily  grazed when young, but ignored when mature if other feed is available
  • Tolerant of heavy grazing and may  become the dominant species in overgrazed pastures
  • Dies back during prolonged dry  periods, but readily re-shoots with rain
  • Extensive fibrous root system is  valuable for erosion control
  • Use moderate grazing pressure for  production and persistence

SIMILAR PLANTS

  • Purple lovegrass (Eragrostis lacunaria) and weeping lovegrass  (Eragrostis parviflora) lack swollen  stem bases and rhizomes