SCIENTIFIC NAME: Paspalidium jubiflorum
CATEGORY: C4 perennial
IDENTIFICATION TIPS
- Leafy, warm season, tussockyperennial 30-130cm high, arising from short rhizomes
- Leaves are green to blue-green with a whitish midrib
- Seedhead is a narrow spike-like panicle 10-50cm long, with short, often widely-spaced branches that are pressed against the main axis
- Spikelets (2.5-3mm long) arearranged in 2 rows along branches that end in a short bristle
- Flowers from summer to autumn
CLIMATIC & SOIL REQUIREMENTS
- Found on a range of soil types, but is most productive on heavier soils on lower slope and run-on sites. In drier western area, it is mainly confined to streams and in/around swamps
GRAZING & NUTRITIONAL VALUE
- Moderate to high grazing value
- No digestibility figures are available
- Crude protein 11% to 15.5%
MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
- Palatable and useful forage, even when hayed off due to frost or dry spells. Favoured by livestock, especially cattle
- Seed is reportedly spread in cattle dung
- Potentially useful for the stabilization of waterways following earthworks or erosion
- Rotational grazing and resting during summer flowering will allow stands to thicken up
- If a soil seed bank is present, rest in spring to early summer following good rains to encourage seedling establishment
- Seed can be sown by broadcasting, followed by harrows in early spring
SIMILAR PLANTS
- Box grass (Paspalidium constrictum) and slender panic (Paspalidium gracile) have spikelets with distinct constrictions along their length
- Bent summer grass (Paspalidium aversum) has weak and easily compressed stems that often root at the lower nodes
(Mature plant: K Hertel)