Fine-head Spear-grass
Austrostipa oligostachya
Tufted grass with flower stems to 1 m tall. Stem joints (nodes) are hairy. Leaf-sheaths purplish. Leaves erect, to 20 cm long, with tightly inrolled margins. Seeds are green, drying to deep brown and covered with white or golden hairs on the lower half.
| Details |
| Flora Type |
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| Former Scientific Name |
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| Distinctive Features |
Curved sickle-shaped bristle or awn up to 70 mm long, twice kinked.
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| Biology |
Perennial. Highly drought-tolerant. Basalt-derived soils but also in gold country on sandstone soils. Preferential grazing of other grasses can lead to flowering and seeding of Spear-grass and their long awns (bristles) can work their way into the skin, mouths and eyes of stock, and contaminate wool.
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| Native Status |
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| Flowering Time |
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Tufted grass with flower stems to 1 m tall. Stem joints (nodes) are hairy. Leaf-sheaths purplish. Leaves erect, to 20 cm long, with tightly inrolled margins. Seeds are green, drying to deep brown and covered with white or golden hairs on the lower half.
| Details |
| Flora Type |
|
| Former Scientific Name |
|
| Distinctive Features |
Curved sickle-shaped bristle or awn up to 70 mm long, twice kinked.
|
| Biology |
Perennial. Highly drought-tolerant. Basalt-derived soils but also in gold country on sandstone soils. Preferential grazing of other grasses can lead to flowering and seeding of Spear-grass and their long awns (bristles) can work their way into the skin, mouths and eyes of stock, and contaminate wool.
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| Native Status |
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| Flowering Time |
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| Taxonomy |
| Phylum |
Tracheophyta (Vascular Plants) |
| Class |
Magnoliopsida (Flowering Plants) |
| Order |
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| Family |
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| Genus |
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| Species |
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Seed coloration and hairiness as well as the awns (bristles on seeds) are important identification features for Spear-grass species. A food source for seed-eating birds including finches. Also attracts moths and butterflies.
| Interesting Facts |
| Similar Species |
Similar to A. bigeniculata. Where they occur together may hybridise.
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| Native Status |
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