Rytidosperma caespitosum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Rytidosperma
Species:
R. caespitosum
Binomial name
Rytidosperma caespitosum
(Gaudich.) Connor & Edgar
Synonyms[1]
  • Austrodanthonia caespitosa (Gaudich.) H.P.Linder
  • Danthonia caespitosa Gaudich.

Rytidosperma caespitosum, known by various common names including common wallaby-grass, ringed wallaby-grass, and white-top, is a species of grass native to southern parts of Australia.

Description

It is a tufted perennial grass that reaches up to 90 centimetres high. Glumes are green with or without purple, and occur in a panicle of from 10 to 30 spikelets, each of which contains from four to nine individual flowers.[2][3]

Taxonomy

It was first collected from Shark Bay in Western Australia by Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré, botanist to the expedition of Louis de Freycinet. It was published by Gaudichaud-Beaupré in 1829 under the name Danthonia caespitosa. During the 1960s and 1970s it was transferred firstly by Zotov into Notodanthonia and then by Connor & Edgar into Rytidosperma. In 1993 it was transferred into Austrodanthonia by Hans Peter Linder.[4] However, in 2010 Austrodanthonia was again submerged into a broader Rytidosperma, and all Austrodanthonia species are now considered part of the genus Rytidosperma.[5][6]

Distribution and habitat

It occurs throughout the wetter, cooler parts of southern Australia, through to hot, arid land such as Shark Bay. Its many forms span diverse habitats, variously tolerating a range of salinity and soils, including sands, loams, limestone, granite and laterite.[2][3] It is considered one of the main native pasture grasses in southern Australia[7]

Ecology

Flowering occurs in spring or summer, usually in response to rain.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Rytidosperma caespitosum (NSW PlantNet)
  2. 1 2 "Austrodanthonia caespitosa (Gaudich.) H.P.Linder". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. 1 2 3 "New South Wales Flora Online: Austrodanthonia caespitosa". Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia.
  4. ↑ "Austrodanthonia caespitosa (Gaudich.) H.P.Linder". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  5. ↑ Linder, H. Peter; Baeza, Marcelo; Barker, Nigel P.; Galley, Chloé; Humphreys, Aelys M.; Lloyd, Kelvin M.; Orlovich, David A.; Pirie, Michael D.; Simon, Bryan K.; Walsh, Neville; Verboom, G. Anthony (2010). "A Generic Classification of the Danthonioideae (Poaceae)1". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 97 (3): 306–364. doi:10.3417/2009006. S2CID 86082569.
  6. ↑ "Flora of Victoria".
  7. ↑ Bell, Una (2008), Common native grasses of south-west WA, [Mundaring, Western Australia] [Una Bell], retrieved 30 October 2016
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