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Blady Grass
Imperata cylindrica (L.) Raeusch. var. major (Nees) C.E.Hubb
Synonyms - Lagurus cylindrica, Imperata arundinacea
Family: - Poaceae
Names:
Imperata commemorates Ferrante Imperato a Neapolitan botanist
Cylindrica refers to the cylindrical seed head.
Other Names
Bladygrass
Cogongrass (USA)
Satintail
Summary:
A tall, rhizomatous, spreading or tufted, perennial grass with silky white seed
heads. The leaves are erect, about 2 cm wide and have a white, off-centre mid
vein. Ornamental varieties may have red leaves.
Leaves:
Blade - Usually green but ornamental varieties may be red. White, off-centre
mid vein.
Ligule - membranous, 0.5-1 mm long, flat topped. Tufts of hairs.
Sheath - Edges often hairy. Older ones often split into fibres.
Blade - Narrow especially at the base where it looks like a petiole, 150-1500
mm long by 4-20 mm wide, flat or in rolled, strongly keeled. Stiff, prominent
midrib. Tip pointed, Edges parallel and rough and often with hairs. Hairy near
the mouth.
Stems: Low lying and spreading to somewhat erect up to 800 mm tall, rarely bent at the
nodes. Tufts of hairs on nodes. From underground rhizomes.
Flower stem -
Flower head:Silky white, fluffy, erect, slender and cylindrical spike like raceme, 70600 mm long . Appears speckled at flowering due to purple anthers. Spikelets fall when
ripe leaving an almost bare stem. Branch axis not jointed.
Flowers:
Spikelets - 3 or in pairs, all alike, 3-6 mm long, on unequal stalks, 1 or rarely 2
flowered, covered in fine white silky hairs attached to the base or the back of
the glumes.
Florets - bisexual.
Glumes - About equal length, membranous, 3-9 nerved, membranous, hairless
on the back
Palea - hyaline, nerveless, flat topped and torn near the tip, smaller than
lemma.
Lemma - 2, shorter than the glumes. First is hyaline, sterile or male, nerveless
or 1 nerved. Second is hyaline, bisexual, oblong, ovate and nerveless.
Anthers - Purple
Key Characters:
Inflorescence not enclosed in leaf sheath.
Panicle spike like, cylindrical, soft and silky with numerous fine white hairs
obscuring the spikelets, bristles not present.
Spikelets falling entire, dorsally compressed, awnless, commonly paired,
pedicellate, not sunk in notches in the rachis.
1 bisexual floret per spikelet.
Glumes villous, not awned, stiffer than membranous lemmas, as long as or
longer than the lemmas
2 Lemmas, not awned.
Purple anthers often conspicuous among the hairs.
Adapted from John Black and Nancy Burbidge.
Life cycle: Perennial. Forms dense or loose clumps.
Reproduction: By seed and rhizome.
Flowering times:
January to May in SA.
Hybrids:
At least 5 varieties. Variety major is the most common.
Population Dynamics and Dispersal:
Spreads by seed and underground stems. Increases as grazing intensity
increases.
Origin and History:
Temperate to tropical Asia.
Introduced for forage, a soil stabiliser and as an ornamental.
Distribution:
ACT, NSW, QLD, NT, SA, TAS, VIC, WA.
Widely distributed around the world.
Courtesy Australia's Virtual Herbarium.
Climate: Temperate, tropical and subtropical
Soil: Tends to grow on poor low fertility soils.
Beneficial:
Grazed when young unpalatable when older.
Ornamental.
Used for thatching.
Soil stabiliser.
Detrimental:
One of the "Worlds Worst Weeds". It is a weed of 35 crops in 70 countries.
Weed of roadsides, mine sites, Pine plantations, desert dunes, wetlands,
Rotation crops, perennial crops, savannahs and forests.
Environmental weed of the USA.
Poor habitat for wildlife.
Highly flammable.
Weed of fire and shifting cultivation in developing countries.
The red ornamental cultivars eg "Red Barron" do not appear to be as invasive
as the green varieties but they have cold tolerance. Planting is discouraged to
reduce the risk of crossing with native varieties which may introduce cold
tolerance into the weedy varieties.
Toxicity: Not recorded as toxic.
Management and Control:
Don't burn because this usually leads to greater infestations.
Establish more desirable perennial grasses, then mow or graze.
Fertilise the area and correct nutritional deficiencies.
Disc cultivation usually provides reasonable control.
Grazing tends to lead to increased infestations
Eradication strategies:
Mow, graze, disc cultivate then treat regrowth with 1 litre of glyphosate per
100 litres of water or imazapyr. Fertilise to encourage other species.
In areas that can't be cultivated, burn in spring/summer and apply glyphosate in
autumn.
In gardens dig it up and remove all underground stem fragments and burn them.