Red grass

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Bothriochloa macra

CATEGORY: C4 perennial

IDENTIFICATION TIPS

• Tufted, warm season  perennial grass to 1m tall
• Leaves generally  grow quite flat to the ground, especially when grazed
• Leaves and stems  often reddish or purplish, especially after frost.  Nodes are red and hairless
• Seedhead consists  of 2-4 erect branches (3-8cm long) pressed close together.  Seeds are awned
• Flowers in summer  and autumn

CLIMATIC & SOIL  REQUIREMENTS

• Wide tolerance of  soil types and fertility types, except for very acid soils (pHCa  < 4.2)
• Highly drought  tolerant, but frost sensitive

GRAZING & NUTRITIONAL  VALUE

• Moderate grazing  value, but low when frosted
• Digestibility  ranges from 48-69 %
• Crude protein 4-15  %

MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

• Tolerates  disturbance; one of the first native plants to return to drought affected sown  pastures
• A valuable  coloniser of degraded areas and for useful for stabilising waterways
• Can produce a large  amount of material, the majority of which is stem.  However, it can provide quality feed after  summer rain and is best utilised at this time
• Responsive to  fertiliser and increased grazing pressure, but grows well in unfertilised areas
• Best kept green and  leafy as it has a high stem to leaf ratio when flowering and stock tend to  avoid it once it goes to seed; rotational grazing helps maintain larger plants
• Maintain heavier  grazing from late winter to mid spring to avoid clover and annual grass  dominance in spring or red grass populations can thin out dramatically
• To increase  density, allow to seed in summer and rest pastures in late summer to aid seed  germination if conditions are suitable
• Seed can be sown by  spreading seed-bearing hay or broadcasting and harrowing in spring or early  autumn

SIMILAR PLANTS

• Red grass (Bothriochloa decipiens) is similar in most ways and close  inspection of the spikelet is required to distinguish it.
• Kangaroo grass (Themeda australis)  is vegetatively similar, but has folded new leaves and a spatheate seedhead
• Queensland bluegrass (Dichanthium  sericeum) has much hairier seedheads and stem nodes
• Silky browntop (Eulalia aurea) seedheads are covered in dense, reddish-brown hairs

(Stemmy appearance of  lightly grazed plants: W Brown)