Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass

Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass Photos

Family: Grass (Poaceae syn. Gramineae)

Scientific Name:

Puccinellia fasciculata

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.

Region	Salinity Class	Waterlogging Class
Western, Gippsland	S3, S4	W2, 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 spikelets Photo: A J Brown	Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass - panicles Photo: A J Brown
Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass - plants Photo: A J Brown	Borrer's Saltmarsh-grass - flowering spikelets Photo: A J Brown

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