Common name: Small Burrgrass
Tragus australianus S.T.Blake APNI* 
Description: Tufted annuals with erect or ascending culms to c. 40 cm tall.
Orifice hairy; ligule a rim of short hairs; blade rolled in bud, rigid, small, flat, margins with stiff, tubercle-based hairs.
Inflorescence a cylindrical, spike-like panicle, 3–6 cm long, the axis pubescent, bearing short branches each with 2 spikelets. Spikelets sessile, 3.5–5 mm long, in pairs facing each other, each with 1 bisexual floret, rounded, densely spiny on the back, pairs of spikelets deciduous. Glumes dissimilar, the lower minute or absent, the upper 5–7-nerved, broadly pointed, margins rough, the nerves with hooked spines. Lemma 3-nerved, c. 3 mm long, acute or mucronate. Palea almost as long as the lemma, 2-nerved, 2-keeled.
Distribution and occurrence: Grows on sandy soils, and as an early colonizer of disturbed areas, more commopn in arid and semi arid areas.
NSW subdivisions: NC, CC, NWS, CWS, NWP, SWP, NFWP, SFWP
Other Australian states: Qld Vic. W.A. S.A. N.T.
The burrs may be a nuisance in wool.
Text by 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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