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Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass

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Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass Photos

Scientific Name:Puccinellia fasciculata
Borrer's Saltmarsh Grass - panicle
Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass - panicle

Photo: A J Brown


Status:


Native to western Europe, Africa and North America. Naturalised in Victoria and South Australia.


Plant Description:


Tufted, erect, hairless
perennial grass to 50 cm tall with smooth, blue to grey-green, flat or loosely folded leaves to 15 cm long and 5 mm wide; ligule membranous, blunt, 1-2.5 mm long.

Inflorescence, a green to purple, narrow, erect panicle to 20 cm long (but often much smaller) and 10 cm wide, exserted from the upper leaf sheath. Primary panicle branches spreading but secondary and tertiary branches often lying close to the primary branch.

Spikelets 3-8 flowered, green, or with purple edges or completely purple and densely clustered.


Habitat:


Common across saline swamps and around salt lakes throughout the
Victorian Volcanic Plain and scattered in the southern Wimmera.

RegionSalinity ClassWaterlogging Class
Western, GippslandS3, S4W2, W3


Comments:


Other
Puccinellia species in Victoria include the natives; Australian Saltmarsh-grass (P. stricta), Lax Saltmarsh-grass (P. perlaxa) (with which Borrer’s Saltmarsh-grass is often found) and the exotic sown; Puccinellia (P. ciliata).

An unusual Puccinellia (with glumes but no florets) is sometimes found on saline swamps in association with P. fasciculata and P. perlaxa and may be a hybrid between them or a sterile form of P. fasciculata. A simplified key can be accessed here – Key to species.

Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass


Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass - flowering spikelet
Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass - flowering spikelets
Photo: A J Brown
Borrer's Saltmarsh Grass - panicles
Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass - panicles
Photo: A J Brown

Borrer's Saltmarsh Grass - plants
Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass - plants
Photo: A J Brown

Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass - flowering spikelet
Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass - flowering spikelets
Photo: A J Brown

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