Grasses Weed profiles & Native alternatives
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I’M A WEED
Feathergrass
Feathergrass
Pennisetum villosum
Perennial grass 30-70 cm tall in dense multi-stemmed tussocks. Stems smooth, cylindrical, erect, branched at the lower nodes. Leaves green or blue-green, up to 6 blades per stem, to 30 cm long, strongly ribbed with fine serrations on the margin. Flower heads spike-like, bristly, 2-12 cm long by 2 cm broad, white to straw-coloured, from February to June, though often persistent over much of the year.
Threat / Problem
• Invades disturbed areas and competes with native species.
Spread
• Rhizome fragments can generate new plants. Germination from seed is slow. Spread by water, wind, contaminated soil or dumped garden waste.
Control
• Spot spray, best in late Spring to Autumn, as an immature plant before rhizome growth and flowering.
GROW ME INSTEAD
Poa
Poa
Poa poiformis
Coarse, densely tufted green to greyish perennial grass to 1.2 m high. Forms large tussocks which dry
in summer to a pale straw colour with seed head 10-25 cm long, narrow, with erect or erectly and loosely spreading branches. Very hardy, attractive ornamental native grass that prefers full sun. Birds eat the seed. Food plant for butterfly caterpillars.
OR GROW ME
Elegant Spear-grass
Elegant Spear-grass
Austrostipa elegantissima
Rhizomatous (with rooting stems), tufted, trailing perennial grass with wiry, branched stems to 2 m long that can climb over other low vegetation. Flower head pyramidal and spreading, 15-25 cm long, 8-15 cm wide with seeds borne on the ends of fluffy stems from September to November giving the plant a distinctive feathery appearance. Common in woodland and mallee, it prefers partly shaded places and propagates from seed.
Elegant Spear-grass
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