MONOCOTYLEDONS

POACEAE - Grass Family  

Ehrharta brevifolia is a tufted annual to 30cm tall with a slender, green panicle to 8cm long. Flowers in spring. It is a widespread weed of coastal dunes and shrublands from Shark Bay to Eucla.
E. calycina (perennial veldt grass) is a tufted perennial to 80cm tall. The inflorescence is a drooping erect panicle of reddish-purple flowers, 7-22cm long. Flowers in spring. It is a widespread weed of roadsides and bushland on sandy soils, from Geraldton to Esperance and is especially common on the Swan Coastal Plain.


Ehrharta calycina , RC

 E. erecta (panic veldt grass) is a slender, tufted perennial to 60cm tall. The inflorescence is erect, green and 10-40cm long. Flowers in spring and summer. A weed of peppermint woodlands from Margaret River to Cape Leeuwin. E. longiflora (annual veldt grass) is a tufted annual to 30cm tall. The greenish-purple inflorescence is a narrow panicle, to 15cm long, flowering in spring. It is a widespread weed of offshore islands, coastal dunes and sandy soils, from Shark Bay to Eucla and inland along disturbed creeklines and grazed woodlands in the western wheatbelt.


E. longiflora, RR

E. villosa (pyp grass) is a rhizomatous perennial, with cane-like stems to 1.5m tall, rooting from the nodes. The inflorescence is a slender panicle of purplish flowers, 10-20cm long. Flowers during spring and summer. Introduced as a sand binder and naturalised on beaches between Jurien Bay and Albany. All are native to South Africa.


E. villosa , GK

Eleusine indica (crowsfoot grass) is a tufted annual to 50cm tall. The green, digitate inflorescence has one to three spikes, produced in summer. It is found on damp, disturbed sites and road verges from Kalumburu to Broome and in the Perth area. Native to Africa and India.
Elytrigia repens (was Agropyron repens) (English couch) is a glabrous perennial to 1m, with long, straw-coloured rhizomes. The inflorescence is a narrow, erect spike of oblong-elliptic spikelets, each 10-20mm long and with four to eight flowers. The leaves are flat and hairy on upper surface. Flowers produced in summer. A widely-planted lawn grass, native to southern Europe; a garden escape in swampy areas.


Eleusine indica
, PH

Eragrostis (lovegrasses) is a large genus with 27 native and six naturalised species in Western Australia. E. barrelieri (pitted lovegrass) is a tufted annual, to 30cm tall. The inflorescence is open, ovate with greenish-purple flowers, produced in spring. It is found on coastal sands and heathland from Kalbarri to Shark Bay. Native to the Mediterranean. E. cilianensis (stinkgrass) is an aromatic, glandular, tufted annual to 60cm tall, rather smelly when wet. The inflorescence is a green or purple, open, ovate panicle to 30cm long. Flowers in summer. A widespread weed of road verges and disturbed ground from Geraldton to Esperance and around Kununurra. Native to the Mediterranean and North Africa.


Eragrostis cilianensis , RR

E. curvula (African lovegrass) is a large, tufted perennial to 1m tall, with greyish-green, often inrolled leaves. The inflorescence is an open or contracted panicle of greenish-purple (or blackish) flowers, to 40cm long. Flowers during spring and summer. A widespread and serious weed of road verges and disturbed ground also invading adjacent bushland from Carnarvon to the Nullarbor. A particular variety is promoted as a pasture grass, but the weedy strain is unpalatable and a problem in paddocks. Native to South Africa. E. minor (small stinkgrass) is an aromatic, glandular, tufted annual to 60cm tall. The inflorescence is an open, green, ovate panicle to 20cm long. Known from Broome and roadsides in the wheatbelt. Flowers in summer, native to tropical Africa, Asia and Australia. E. mexicana (Mexican lovegrass) is found on roadsides in the wheatbelt. It is a very similar to E. minor, but is not aromatic, and is a smaller, more delicate plant. Native to Mexico. E. tenuifolia (elastic grass) is a tufted perennial to 40cm tall, otherwise similar in appearance to E. minor. Found on roadsides around Broome and native to Africa and India.


E. curvula , PH

Festuca arundinacea (occasionally referred to as F. elatior) (tall fescue) is a tussocky perennial to 1.2m tall. The purplish inflorescence is an open panicle, linear to lanceolate in outline, 12-45cm long. Flowers in summer. Introduced as a pasture grass, now established on road verges and disturbed ground from Pemberton to Denmark and also in Perth. Native to Europe, temperate Asia and North Africa.


Festuca arundinacea , PH

F. pratensis (meadow fescue) is a tufted perennial to 1m tall. The purplish inflorescence is an open panicle, lanceolate in outline, 10-25cm long, erect or nodding. Introduced as a pasture or lawn grass, found at Perth and Kojonup. (F. pratensis can be distinguished from the other pasture and lawn fescues, F. nigrescens and F. rubra, by the fact that it has flat leaf blades.) Flowers in summer, native to Europe and temperate Asia. F. rubra (red or creeping fescue) is a tufted rhizomatous or stoloniferous perennial, to 80cm tall. The purple inflorescence is a loose panicle to 20cm long, erect or spreading and it has conspicuous awns. It has very fine, inrolled leaves. Flowers in summer. Grown as a lawn grass, it has established on disturbed ground from Geraldton to Manjimup. Native to Europe.


F. pratensis , PH

Gastridium phleoides (nit grass) is an erect, tufted annual to 60cm. The inflorescence is a narrow, green, cylindrical panicle, 5-12cm long produced in autumn and winter. An occasional weed of winter-wet disturbed sites from Perth to Busselton. Native to the Mediterranean.
Glyceria maxima (reed sweetgrass) is a perennial, growing from a creeping rhizome, to 1m tall. The inflorescence is a green, loose, contracted to open panicle, 12-45cm long produced in summer. Introduced as a pasture grass, it is becoming a serious weed of wetlands in the higher rainfall areas from Perth to Albany. Native to Europe and temperate Asia.


Glyceria maxima , GK

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