Common name: Palm Grass
Setaria palmifolia (J.Koenig) Stapf APNI* 
Description: Perennials to c. 1.5 m tall, usually erect from the base.
Culms very robust, terete, striate, branching, hairy at the nodes. Sheaths terete or slightly keeled, very striate, margins densely ciliate to glabrous; ligule a very dense row of hairs; blade plicate, palm-leaflet-like, linear-elliptical, acuminate, 27–90 cm long, 3–12 cm wide, margins scabrid.
Inflorescence very loose with long, flexuose or straight branches, to 80 cm long, main axis straight or nodding. Spikelets elliptical, planoconvex, acute, 2.5–3.5 mm long, at least some, and always the terminal, subtended by a scabrous bristle, usually not more than three times the length of the spikelet. Lower glume c. 30% spikelet length, ovate; upper 65–75% spikelet length, broadly ovate. Lower lemma sterile or staminate, elliptical, acuminate, 5-nerved; palea 50–75% lemma length. Upper lemma bisexual, finely rugulose, apiculate; palea margins becoming hyaline.
Flowering: Flowers in summer.
Distribution and occurrence: An ornamental and escape from gardens, usually growing in damp, shady areas. Native of trop. areas of Old World.
NSW subdivisions: *NC, *CC, *SC, *CWS, *LHI
Other Australian states: *Qld
Text by Illustration in Jacobs, S.W.L., Whalley, R.D.B. & Wheeler, D.J.B.
Taxon concept: Grasses of New South Wales, Fourth Edition (2008).
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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