Cenchrus setaceus
(Forssk.) Morrone Fountain GrassRobust, rhizomatous perennial, forming large tussocks. Culms erect, to c. 1 m high. Leaf-blades flat, folded or inrolled, to 60 cm long and 4 mm wide, glabrous or nearly so, scabrous; sheaths ciliate along margins; ligules c. 1 mm long, with lateral tufts to 3 mm. Inflorescence a soft, dense cylindric panicle 8–30 cm long; spikelets 1–4 per branch, subtended by an involucre 15–40 mm long, of purplish bristles, the outermost scabrous, the inner plumose. Spikelets lanceolate, 4.5–6.5 mm long; lower glume rudimentary or lacking; upper glume 1-nerved, narrowly ovate, 1–2 mm long, membranous; lower floret sterile, its lemma slightly shorter than the spikelet, membranous, 3-nerved, palea absent; upper floret bisexual or male, lemma 5-nerved, equal to spikelet, palea subequal to lemma. Flowers Jan.–Apr.
MuM, VVP, VRiv, GipP, OtP. Also naturalised in WA, NT, SA, Qld, NSW. Native to Africa, Middle East and Sicily. Widely planted for its attractive habit and soft, pinkish inflorescences. In Victoria, recorded as escaped from cultivation in and near Melbourne (Richmond, Seaford, Blairgowrie) and scattered outlying districts (e.g. Wangaratta and Ouyen areas).
Walsh, N.G. (1994). Poaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 356–627. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
