Polypogon australis
Encyclopedia
Polypogon australis is a species of grass
known by the common names Chilean beard grass and Chilean rabbitsfoot grass. It is native to Chile
and Argentina
. It is also known in parts of the western United States where it is an introduced species
and invasive species
that grows in moist habitat types such as ditches.
is a panicle
up to 15 or 16 centimeters long and several centimeters wide. It is fluffy in appearance and sometimes purplish in color due to the long, dark-colored awns.
Poaceae
The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...
known by the common names Chilean beard grass and Chilean rabbitsfoot grass. It is native to Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. It is also known in parts of the western United States where it is an introduced species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
and invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
that grows in moist habitat types such as ditches.
Description
It is a perennial grass producing stems up to a meter tall. The inflorescenceInflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a panicle
Panicle
A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches; in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes....
up to 15 or 16 centimeters long and several centimeters wide. It is fluffy in appearance and sometimes purplish in color due to the long, dark-colored awns.