African Lovegrass has been recently located at Susan Campbell and Kent McKoy Reserves. This is an ecosystem changing weed and I’m encouraging groups to keep an eye out for this one. Council has been notified and we are hoping to commence a control program soon.
Description
African lovegrass is a densely-tufted perennial grass growing between 20 to 120cm high.
African lovegrass has slender, robust stems which are sometimes bent at the lower nodes.
The leaves of African lovegrass are dark green to blue-green in colour. The blades are narrow, 3mm wide and 25 to 35cm long. They are narrowly tapered and often curl near the tips.
The leaf margins are often folded or rolled inwards. The basal sheath around the stem is yellowish or purplish and keeled and marked with striations.
Between the leaf blade and the sheath is a conspicuous ring or beard of hairs.
African lovegrass has grey or leaden-green flowers which grow in groups of 4 to 13. They are 4 to 10mm long and 1 to 1.5mm wide.
Flower heads vary from compact to loose and form spreading panicles 6 to 30cm long and up to 20cm wide.
The seeds of African lovegrass are creamy to dark-orange or almost brown in colour. They are 0.3 to 0.7mm long and ripe seed is present from January to March.
