SCIENTIFIC NAME: Poa sieberiana
CATEGORY: C3 perennial
IDENTIFICATION TIPS
- A densely tufted, yearlong green perennial to 80cm tall
- Leaves are long & fine, green to grey-green, rough to the touch and lack a ligule
- Seedhead is pyramid-shaped open panicle to 18cm long, varying from green to purple in colour
- Flowers from spring to early summer
CLIMATIC & SOIL REQUIREMENTS
- Widespread in many situations; often in woodlands and forests
- More common on well drained mid to upper slopes than in drainage lines
- High drought tolerance
GRAZING & NUTRITIONAL VALUE
- Low to moderate grazing value
- Digestibility ranges from 42-69 %
- Crude protein 4-12.5 %
MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
- Highly productive and leafy species that produces good quantities of green leaf over winter and early spring
- Grazing value is often limited due to its propensity to become rank and unpalatable
- Will increase in abundance if allowed to become rank and other species are heavily grazed
- Tends to decrease under management that retains a high proportion of green material, for example, heavy rotational grazing
- May require supplementation with slashing or an occasional cool burn to reduce the percentage of dead leaf
SIMILAR PLANTS
- Poa tussock (P. labillardierei) forms a larger tussock with leaves to 3.5mm wide. Usually found on more fertile soils with good moisture
- Rough speargrass (Austrostipa scabra) is vegetatively very similar, but has awns in the seedhead
- Serrated tussock (Nassella trichotoma) is also vegetatively very similar, but has a papery ligule and awns in the seedhead