Plains grass

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Austrostipa aristiglumis

CATEGORY: C3  perennial

IDENTIFICATION TIPS

• Warm season native perennial grass growing in tufts up to 2m  tall.
• Leaves are up to 6mm wide and 40cm long, rolled in the  sheath.  The sheath and leaves are ribbed  and generally hairless
• It has a stiff membranous ligule and thickened auricles
• Seedhead is an open panicle to 55cm long, with spreading,  whorled branches.  Large spikelets have a  twice-bent 3-4cm long awn
• Flowers in spring  and summer

CLIMATIC & SOIL  REQUIREMENTS

• Widespread in the eastern half of the plains and extending  to the slopes
• Common on heavy clay soils; it prefers good moisture, high  fertility, and neutral to alkaline soils
• Particularly frost sensitive, but drought tolerant

GRAZING & NUTRITIONAL  VALUE

• Low to moderate  grazing value
• Digestibility  ranges from 39.5-59.1%, but old hayed-off material is as little as 30.0%
• Crude protein  3.8-12.2%

MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

• Provides a competitive perennial pasture  which is resilient to weed invasion
• Provides  moderate quality feed for livestock when vegetative; low quality when flowering
• More  readily grazed by cattle than sheep
• Seeds can cause injury to stock, especially  sheep.  Heavy grazing or slashing at  flowering will reduce seed contamination, but may reduce the populations over  time
• Tolerates  heavy grazing over summer and autumn, but occasionally resting at flowering  will aid persistence

SIMILAR PLANTS

• Tall speargrass (Austrostipa bigeniculata) is quite similar, but has an awn 4-5.5cm  long
• Other tall Austrostipa species have a similar appearance

(Plains Grass habitat: J  Kidston)