Ehrharta calycina
Ehrharta calycina is a species of grass known by the common names perennial veldtgrass and purple veldtgrass.
Ehrharta calycina | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Genus: | Ehrharta |
Species: | E. calycina |
Binomial name | |
Ehrharta calycina | |
Distribution
It is native to southern Africa.
It grows in Veld grassland habits of South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia.
Description
Ehrharta calycina is a highly variable perennial grass, often but not always rhizomatous.
It usually reaches 30–70 centimetres (12–28 in) in height, but is known to grow much taller in favorable conditions.
The inflorescence is a narrow to wide open array of spikelets light in color when new and becoming darker and tinted purple to reddish with age.
Introduced / invasive species
The grass is an introduced species, often becoming a noxious weed outside its native range.
It is an invasive species in California, where it is an invasive weed of chaparral and coastal sage scrub habitat along the southern and central coastal regions.[1] It was first introduced to Davis in the Sacramento Valley as a drought-tolerant range grass for grazing.[2][3]
It is also known as an invasive species and weed in parts of Australia.
References
- California Invasive Plant Council: Ehrharta calycina profile
- FAO Profile
- "Grass Manual Treatment". Archived from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
External links
- Jepson Manual Treatment — invasive plant species in California.
- USDA Plants Profile — invasive plant species in U.S.
- UC CalPhoto gallery of Ehrharta calycina