Sporobolus virginicus

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Sporobolus virginicus
Starr 010202-0207 Sporobolus virginicus.jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Chloridoideae
Genus: Sporobolus
Species:
S. virginicus
Binomial name
Sporobolus virginicus

Sporobolus virginicus, known by numerous common names including seashore dropseed, [3] marine couch, sand couch, salt couch grass, saltwater couch, coastal rat-tail grass, and nioaka, is a species of grass with a wide distribution.

Contents

Description

It is a spreading perennial tussock grass from 10 to 50 cm (3.9 to 19.7 in) in height. Its flowers are green or purple. It reproduces asexually by use of both stolons and rhizomes. [4]

Taxonomy

It was originally published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, under the name Agrostis virginicus. It was transferred into Sporobolus by Karl Sigismund Kunth in 1829. It has a great many synonyms. [5]

Distribution and habitat

It grows in Australia, New Zealand, many Pacific Islands, the Caribbean, Africa, India, China and Indonesia. It is widespread in Australia, [6] occurring in every state, although in New South Wales it is considered naturalised. [7]

Related Research Articles

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Couch grass, as a vernacular common name, may refer to:

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<i>Atalaya</i> (plant) Genus of plants

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<i>Elattostachys</i> Genus of flowering plants

Elattostachys is a genus of about 21 species of trees known to science, constituting part of the plant family Sapindaceae.

<i>Sporobolus</i> Genus of grasses

Sporobolus is a nearly cosmopolitan genus of plants in the grass family. The name Sporobolus means "seed-thrower", and is derived from Ancient Greek word σπόρος (spóros), meaning "seed", and the root of βάλλειν (bállein) "to throw", referring to the dispersion of seeds. Members of the genus are usually called dropseeds or sacaton grasses. They are typical prairie and savanna plants, occurring in other types of open habitat in warmer climates. At least one species is threatened with extinction, and another is extinct.

Amphibolis antarctica is a species of flowering plant in the family Cymodoceaceae. It is referred to by the common names wire weed or sea nymph, and is a seagrass found in coastal waters of southern and western Australia.

<i>Sesuvium portulacastrum</i> Species of succulent

Sesuvium portulacastrum is a sprawling perennial herb in the family Aizoaceae that grows in coastal and mangrove areas throughout much of the world. It grows in sandy clay, coastal limestone and sandstone, tidal flats and salt marshes, throughout much of the world. It is native to Africa, Asia, Australia, Hawai`i, North America and South America, and has naturalised in many places where it is not indigenous.

<i>Posidonia australis</i> Species of plant

Posidonia australis, also known as fibre-ball weed or ribbon weed, is a species of seagrass that occurs in the southern waters of Australia. It forms large meadows important to environmental conservation. Balls of decomposing detritus from the foliage are found along nearby shore-lines.

<i>Suaeda australis</i> Species of plant

Suaeda australis, the austral seablite, is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae, native to Australia. It grows to 10 to 90 cm in height, with a spreading habit and branching occurring from the base. The leaves are up to 40 mm in length and are succulent, linear and flattened. They are light green to purplish-red in colour.

<i>Myoporum insulare</i> Species of plant

Myoporum insulare, commonly known as common boobialla, native juniper, is a species of flowering plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to coastal areas of Australia. It is a shrub or small tree which grows on dunes and coastal cliffs, is very salt tolerant and widely used in horticulture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flora of Australia</span> Plant species of Australia

The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 21,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwana, and below the family level has a highly endemic angiosperm flora whose diversity was shaped by the effects of continental drift and climate change since the Cretaceous. Prominent features of the Australian flora are adaptations to aridity and fire which include scleromorphy and serotiny. These adaptations are common in species from the large and well-known families Proteaceae (Banksia), Myrtaceae, and Fabaceae.

<i>Andropogon virginicus</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Oxybasis chenopodioides</i> Species of plant

Oxybasis chenopodioides is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae known by the common name saltmarsh goosefoot. It is native to Europe, Asia and parts of Africa, where it grows on bare mud in brackish hollows in coastal grassland, inland salt steppes and salty deserts. It has spread to similar habitats in both North and South America. Its habitat is an uncommon one and is threatened by agricultural improvement in many areas, but overall its populations are stable. This species often grows with, and is easily confused with the closely-related red goosefoot.

<i>Gahnia sieberiana</i> Species of plant

Gahnia sieberiana, commonly known as the red-fruit saw-sedge, is a tussock-forming perennial plant in the family Cyperaceae, endemic to Australia. It is a widespread plant that favours damp sunny sites. Many insect larvae have been recorded feeding on the red-fruit saw-sedge. It may grow over 2 metres tall.

<i>Lasjia</i> Genus of trees of the family Proteaceae

Lasjia is a genus of six species of trees of the family Proteaceae. Three species grow naturally in northeastern Queensland, Australia and three species in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Descriptively they are the tropical or northern macadamia trees group. Lasjia species characteristically branched compound inflorescences differentiate them from the Macadamia species, of Australia, which have characteristically unbranched compound inflorescences and only grow naturally about 1,000 km (620 mi) further to the south, in southern and central eastern Queensland and in northeastern New South Wales.

<i>Tabernaemontana pandacaqui</i> Species of plant

Tabernaemontana pandacaqui, known as windmill bush and banana bush, is a species of plant in the dogbane family Apocynaceae.

<i>Symphyotrichum subulatum</i> Species of flowering plant in family Asteraceae

Symphyotrichum subulatum, commonly known as eastern annual saltmarsh aster or, in Britain and Ireland where it is naturalized, annual saltmarsh aster, is an annual plant in the family Asteraceae native to the eastern United States and the Gulf Coast to Texas. The species grows primarily in coastal salt marshes, although in the Ozarks it occurs as a non-marine weedy variety.

References

  1. Bárrios, S. & Copeland, A. 2021. Sporobolus virginicus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T177364A192135454. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T177364A192135454.en. Accessed on 24 March 2022.
  2. NatureServe. "Sporobolus virginicus". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  3. NRCS. "Sporobolus virginicus". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  4. "Sporobolus virginicus (L.) Kunth". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  5. "Sporobolus virginicus (L.) Kunth". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  6. p24 It is the most wildly distributed saltmarsh plant in AustraliaSaintilan, Neil; CSIRO (2009), Australian saltmarsh ecology, CSIRO Publishing, ISBN   978-0-643-09684-4
  7. S. W. L. Jacobs & K. L. McClay. "New South Wales Flora Online: Sporobolus virginicus". Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia.