Salt Blown-Grass

Salt Blown-grass photos

Family: Grass (Poaceae syn. Gramineae)

Scientific Name:

Lachnagrostis robusta (syn. Agrostis billardierei var. robusta)

Salt blown-grass tussock growing in saline water
Photo: A J Brown

Status:

Native to Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

Plant Description:

Tufted annual to perennial grass to 75 cm tall with rough, inrolled leaves to 1 mm wide and to 30 cm long or more; ligule membranous, obtuse and 2-7 mm long.

Inflorescence a green or slightly purplish, broad, open but weeping panicle to 25 cm long with long slender branches and often remaining enclosed by the upper leaf sheath until late maturity. Panicles detach from the plant when mature and are blown away by the wind.

Spikelets small (3.5-5.5 mm long) on individual fine stalks but clustered towards the ends of the panicle branches; each spikelet with a single smooth and shiny (rough towards the upper end), hairless floret (except for hairs around its base) with a very fine, bent awn or bristle attached below its mid-back region but readily visible beyond the tip of the spikelet.

Habitat:

Confined to saline swamps and lake edges but widespread across the Victorian Volcanic Plain and occasionally in the southern Wimmera.

Region	Salinity Class	Waterlogging Class
Wimmera, Western, Gippsland	S2, S3, S4	W2, W3

Comments:

Similar appearance to Common Blown-grass.

A simplified key to some of the species on salt-land can be accessed here - Blown-grass species key

Slat Blown-grass Photos

Flowering Salt Blown-grass tussocks with Australian Salt-grass Photo: A J Brown	Mature panicles of Salt Blown-grass Photo: A J Brown
Salt blown-grass - panicles Photo: A J Brown

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