Astrebla elymoides plant6 NWP - Flickr - Macleay Grass Man

Description:

Description: Native warm-season perennial erect tussocky C4 grass to 1 m tall. Leaf blades are 3–5.5 mm wide and curl when hayed off; margins and upper surface are bristly. Flowerheads are slender spikes or spike-like racemes; 12–38 cm long, only about 3 mm wide, exserted well beyond the leaves and weeping (hooping) towards the ground when mature. Spikelets are solitary, very slender, terete or slightly compressed, tightly appressed to the axis and 11–18 mm long. Glumes are often deciduous. Lemmas are 3-lobed; the mid-lobe tapers into a slender bristle 4–6 mm long and lateral lobes are rigid and 2–4 mm long. Flowering is in response to rain, but mainly in summer. Grows on water run-on areas on heavy self-mulching clays. Regarded as the best of the mitchell grasses for grazing, especially for cattle. Has moderate nutritional value. Not particularly palatable during the summer growing season. However, it retains its leaf during the dry season and is eaten then. Date: 20 May 2016, 12:54. Source: Astrebla elymoides plant6 NWP. Author: Harry Rose from Dungog, Australia. Camera location30° 54′ 04.56″ S, 148° 47′ 46.2″ E View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap-30.901267; 148.796167.