Wind-Flattened Tussock-Grass

Wind-flattened Tussock-grass photos

Family: Grass (Poaceae syn. Gramineae)

Scientific Name:

Poa physoclina

Wind-flattened Tussock-grass population
Photo: A J Brown

Status:

Endemic to a few salt lakes in Western Victoria.

Plant Description:

Tussocky, perennial grass, growing to 40 cm tall but stems and flower-heads readily lying flat with maturity. Leaves are smooth, folded to inrolled, growing to 20 cm long and 0.4 mm wide. Flower-heads are broad and diffuse to 12 cm long and 10 cm wide. Spikelets are often purplish, mostly 2 flowered and 2-3.5 mm long with its glumes having rough (scabrous) keels. The florets are hairy in the lower half.

Habitat:

Grows on the margins of salt lakes, in heavy textured soils but appears to avoid highly saline environments. Sometimes found growing among basalt outcrops on the edges of seasonal swamps.

Region	Salinity Class	Waterlogging Class
Western	S0, S1, *S2	W1, W2

*likely to tolerate higher salt levels if water levels are high

Comments:

Poa is a large world-wide grass genus with at least 30 species, both native and introduced, represented in Victoria. Wind-flattened Tussock-grass is similar to Fine-leaved Tussock-grass (Poa sieberiana) which differs in its erect flower-heads and drier habitats. From Tussock Poa (Poa labillarierei) it differs again, in its weak flower stems, and in its finer leaves and generally smaller growth habit.

Photos of Wind-flattened Tussock-grass

Flower-heads of Wind-flattened Tussock-grass Photo: A J Brown	Flowering tussock of Wind-flattened Tussock-grass Photo: A J Brown
Tussocks of Wind-flattened Tussock-grass Photo: A J Brown

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