Common name
Stinkgrass
Stinking Lovegrass

Derivation
Eragrostis Wolf, Gen. Sp. Pl. 23 (1776); from the Greek, eros (loving), together with Agrostis, the Greek name of an indeterminate herb.

Or from the Greek er (early) and agrostris (wild). Species of Eragrostis are commonly early invaders of arable land.

Or from the Greek eri, an inseparable particle used as a prefix to strengthen a word in the sense of very much, that is a many-floreted Agrostis.

cilianensis- from Cigliano Italy.

Published in
Malpighia 18: 386 (1904).

Habit
Annual, tufted. Rootstock not evident. Glands wart-like (on keel). Culms erect or geniculately ascending, 10–90 cm tall. Ligule a fringe of hairs, 0.5–1.5 mm long. Leaf-blades persistent, flat, 5–20 cm long, 2–8 mm wide, glandular. Leaf-blade margins glandular or eglandular.

Inflorescence
Inflorescence compound, a panicle. Panicle open or contracted, ovate, dense or loose, 4–30 cm long. Primary panicle branches spreading. Panicle branches stiff, bearing approximate spikelets, glandular.

Spikelets
Spikelets solitary. Pedicels oblong, glandular. Fertile spikelets many flowered, with diminished florets at the apex, lanceolate or oblong or ovate, laterally compressed, 3–30 mm long, 2–4 mm wide, breaking up at maturity. Spikelets rhachilla persistent. Spikelets retaining paleas, tough throughout or fragile above, with the distal florets falling as a whole.

Glumes
Glumes deciduous, similar. Lower glume ovate, 1.5–2.2 mm long, 100% length of upper glume, eglandular or glandular (on keel), 1-keeled, 1–3-nerved. Lower glume apex obtuse or acute. Upper glume ovate, 1.5–2.2 mm long, 70–80% of length of adjacent fertile lemma, eglandular or glandular, 1-keeled, 1–3-nerved. Upper glume apex obtuse or acute.

Florets
Fertile lemma ovate or orbicular, (1.3–)2–2.8 mm long, chartaceous or cartilaginous, yellow or grey, dull or glossy, glandular on nerves (keel), 3-nerved. Lemma lateral nerves distinct, midway between midnerve and margin. Lemma apex emarginate or obtuse, muticous. Palea elliptic, with flaps narrower than body. Palea keels wingless, scabrous. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped. Anthers 3, 0.3–0.4 mm long. Grain with adherent pericarp, orbicular, 0.5(–0.7) mm long, dark brown or red.

Continental Distribution:
Europe, Africa, Temperate Asia, Tropical Asia, Australasia, Pacific, North America, South America.

Australian Distribution:
Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania.

Western Australia: Gardner, Fitzgerald, Hall, Dampier, Fortescue, Irwin, Drummond, Dale, Menzies, Eyre, Roe, Avon, Coolgardie. Northern Territory: Darwin & Gulf, Central Australia North, Central Australia South. South Australia: North-western, Gairdner-Torrens Basin, Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South-eastern. Queensland: Cook, Burke, North Kennedy, South Kennedy, Port Curtis, Leichhardt, Burnett, Wide Bay, Darling Downs, Moreton, Gregory North, Gregory South, Mitchell, Warrego, Maranoa. New South Wales: North Coast, Central Coast, South Coast, Northern Tablelands, Central Tablelands, Southern Tablelands, North-Western Slopes, Central-Western Slopes, South-Western Slopes, North-Western Plains, South-Western Plains, North Far Western Plains. Victoria: Murray Mallee, Wimmera, Riverina, Midlands, Victorian Volcanic Plain, Gippsland Plains, East Gippsland. Tasmania: Midlands, East Coast.

Classification. (GPWG 2001):
Chloridoideae: Cynodonteae

Notes
Introduced; scattered occurences in N and SW W.A. and central N.T., most common in eastern Australia. Flowers and fruits throughout the year.
A troublesome weed.