Ehrharta calycina | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Genus: | Ehrharta |
Species: | E. calycina |
Binomial name | |
Ehrharta calycina | |
Ehrharta calycina is a species of grass known by the common names perennial veldtgrass and purple veldtgrass.
It is native to southern Africa; from South Africa (within the Cape Provinces, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal), Lesotho and Namibia. [1]
It grows in Veld grassland habits and on low-lying sandy areas. [2]
Ehrharta calycina is a highly variable perennial grass, often but not always rhizomatous.
It usually reaches 30–70 centimetres (12–28 in) in height, but is known to grow much taller in favorable conditions.
The inflorescence is a narrow to wide open array of spikelets light in color when new and becoming darker and tinted purple to reddish with age.
The Latin specific epithet of calycina is derived from calycinus meaning like a calyx or with a prominent calyx. [3] It was first described and published in Pl. Icon. Ined. on table 33 in 1789. [1]
The grass is an introduced species, including places such as; California, Egypt, Hawaii, India, New South Wales, New Zealand North, Portugal, South Australia, Spain, Tasmania, Texas, Tunisia, Victoria and Western Australia. [1] Sometimes becoming a noxious weed outside its native range.
It is an invasive species in California, where it is an invasive weed of chaparral and coastal sage scrub habitat along the southern and central coastal regions. [4] It was first introduced to Davis in the Sacramento Valley as a drought-tolerant range grass for grazing. [5] [6]
It is also known as an invasive species and weed in parts of Australia.
The species has been added to the list of invasive alien species of Union Concern. [7] This means it is now forbidden to trade, import and breed this plant in all Member States of the European Union. [8]
Lupinus arboreus, the yellow bush lupine (US) or tree lupin (UK), is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae.
Holcus lanatus is a perennial grass. The specific epithet lanatus is Latin for 'woolly' which describes the plant's hairy texture. Common names include Yorkshire fog, tufted grass, and meadow soft grass. In North America, where it is an invasive species, names include velvet grass and common velvet grass.
Ehrharta is a genus of plants in the grass family.
Ehrharta erecta is a species of grass commonly known as panic veldtgrass. The species is native to Southern Africa and Yemen. It is a documented invasive species in the United States, New Zealand, Australia, southern Europe, and China.
Ammophila arenaria is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. It is known by the common names marram grass and European beachgrass. It is one of two species of the genus Ammophila. It is native to the coastlines of Europe and North Africa where it grows in the sands of beach dunes. It is a perennial grass forming stiff, hardy clumps of erect stems up to 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) in height. It grows from a network of thick rhizomes which give it a sturdy anchor in its sand substrate and allow it to spread upward as sand accumulates. These rhizomes can grow laterally by 2 metres in six months. One clump can produce 100 new shoots annually.
Vinca major, with the common names bigleaf periwinkle, large periwinkle, greater periwinkle and blue periwinkle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae, native to the western Mediterranean. Growing to 25 cm (10 in) tall and spreading indefinitely, it is an evergreen perennial, frequently used in cultivation as groundcover.
Carduus pycnocephalus, with common names including Italian thistle, Italian plumeless thistle, and Plymouth thistle, is a species of thistle. It is native to: the Mediterranean region in southern Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia; East Europe and the Caucasus; and the Indian Subcontinent.
Cabomba caroliniana is an aquatic perennial herbaceous plant native to North and South America.
Cortaderia jubata is a species of grass known by several common names, including purple pampas grass and Andean pampas grass. It is similar to its more widespread relative, the pampas grass Cortaderia selloana, but it can get quite a bit taller, approaching seven meters in height at maximum.
Andropogon virginicus is a species of grass known by several common names, including broomsedge bluestem, yellowsedge bluestem and whiskey grass. It is native to the southeastern United States and as far north as the Great Lakes. It is known as an introduced species in California and Hawaii, where it is weedy.
Lupinus nipomensis is a species of lupine known by the common name Nipomo Mesa lupine. It is endemic to the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes on the California Central Coast. Specifically, the plant is limited to the Guadalupe Dunes at the southern border of San Luis Obispo County. There are five to seven colonies growing in a strip of sand dunes measuring less than three square miles in area. These colonies are generally considered to make up a single population. The number of individual plants remaining has been observed to vary between 100 and 1,800, its abundance is not correlated to precipitation, is highly variable and exact mechanisms driving abundance unknown. This is a California state and federally listed endangered species.
Paspalum dilatatum is a species of grass known by the common name dallisgrass, Dallas grass, or sticky heads. It is native to Brazil and Argentina, but it is known throughout the world as an introduced species and at times a common weed. Its rapid growth and spreading rhizomes make it an invasive pest in some areas. It is present in the southern half of North America, southern Europe, much of Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and many tropical and subtropical areas.
Melinis repens is a species of grass known by the common names rose Natal grass, Natal red top, or simply Natal grass. It is native to southern Africa and an introduced species, often considered a noxious weed, on other continents such as North America and Australia. It is an annual or perennial grass, growing up to a meter tall. Its growth rate is dependent on temperature. The inflorescence is an open array of branches bearing spikelets densely coated in silky white or pink hairs.
Microlaena is a genus of grass with a single species Microlaena stipoides or Ehrharta stipoides. It occurs naturally in all states of Australia as well as in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the Philippines. It has also been introduced into Hawaii and Reunion Island and has been reported as invasive in both. Common names used include weeping grass, weeping rice grass and weeping meadow grass.
Tripidium ravennae, synonym Saccharum ravennae, with the common names ravennagrass and elephant grass, is a species of grass in the genus Tripidium. It is native to southern Europe, western Asia and South Asia and is known in North America as an introduced species, where it is sometimes an invasive and troublesome noxious weed.
Sporobolus foliosus is a species of grass known by the common name California cordgrass. It was reclassified from Spartina foliosa after a taxonomic revision in 2014. It is native to the salt marshes and mudflats of coastal California and Baja California, especially San Francisco Bay. It is a perennial grass growing from short rhizomes. It produces single stems or clumps of thick, fleshy stems that grow up to 1.5 meters tall. They are green or purple-tinged. The long, narrow leaves are flat or rolled inward. The inflorescence is a narrow, dense, spike-like stick of branches appressed together, the unit reaching up to 25 centimeters long. The lower spikelets are sometimes enclosed in the basal sheaths of upper leaves.
Poa diaboli is a rare species of grass known by the common name Diablo Canyon bluegrass. It is endemic to San Luis Obispo County, California, where it is known from about five occurrences in the San Luis Mountains near the coast. The type specimen was collected in Montaña de Oro State Park and the grass was described as a new species in 2003. The grass occurs on rugged mountaintops and north-facing slopes in thin soils covering shale rock within a few kilometers of the coastline. Its habitat includes chaparral, oak woodland, coastal sage scrub, and Bishop pine forest.
Panicum repens is a species of grass known by many common names, including torpedograss, creeping panic, panic rampant, couch panicum, wainaku grass, quack grass, dog-tooth grass, and bullet grass. Its exact native range is obscure. Sources suggest that the grass is native to "Africa and/or Asia", "Europe or Australia", "Eurasia", "Australia", "Europe, Asia, and Africa", or other specific regions, including the Mediterranean, Israel, and Argentina. It is present in many places as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. It has been called "one of the world's worst weeds."
Perennial veldtgrass is a common name for several species of grass in the genus Ehrharta which have become invasive in English speaking countries:
Brachiaria mutica is a species of grass known by the common names para grass, buffalo grass, Mauritius signal grass, pasto pare, malojilla, gramalote, parana, Carib grass, and Scotch grass. Despite its common name California grass, it does not occur in California; it is native to northern and central Africa and parts of the Middle East, where it is cultivated for fodder. It was introduced elsewhere and it is now cultivated throughout tropical regions of the world for this purpose.