Common name: Small Dropseed, Madagascar Dropseed
Sporobolus coromandelianus (Retz.) Kunth APNI* Synonyms: Vilfa coromandeliana (Retz.) P.Beauv. APNI*
Sporobolus javensis Ohwi APNI*
Agrostis coromandeliana Retz. APNI*
Description: Caespitose annual (often ephemeral), 7–30 cm high, culms erect or geniculately ascending.
Ligule a fringe of hairs; leaf blade flat, 2–11 cm long, 2–5 mm wide, margins hairy at base, otherwise glabrous or ciliate.
Inflorescence paniculate, open, ovate, 2–8 cm long, primary (lower) branches spreading, in whorls at most nodes. Spikelets subsessile or pedicellate, 0.9–1.4 (-1.7) mm long, glabrous or scaberulous, greyish green, floret 1. Lower glume ovate or oblong, 0.1–0.5 mm long, hyaline; upper oblong-elliptic, as long as the spikelet, 1-veined, smooth or asperulous. Fertile lemma similar to upper glume, but slightly shorter, membranous, grey, 1-veined, smooth or scaberulous.
Flowering: sporodically throughout year; probably when conditions are suitable.
Distribution and occurrence: Sparingly naturalised in N.S.W.; recorded from the Yetman area. Occurs in subtropical and tropical Australia; also New Guinea, southern Africa, eastern Asia and the Pacific region. Native of Old World Tropics, including Africa and SW Asia. Possible weed of gardens, roadsides and natural areas.
NSW subdivisions: *NWP
Other Australian states: *Qld *N.T. *W.A.
Superficially similar to the native species Sporobolus australasicus but differing in having the spikelets arranged towards the apices of the panicle branches (Simon 2005), and Sporobolus caroli which has all spikelets distinctly pedicellate. See also Kodela, Cunninghamia 15: 143-151 (2015).
Text by P.G. Kodela (December 2009; last updated August 2012)
Taxon concept: B.K. Simon, Sporobolus, Flora of Australia 44B: 324-346 (2005)
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.
|
