Biology:Rytidosperma caespitosum

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Short description: Species of plant

Rytidosperma caespitosum
Rytidosperma caespitosum - Flickr - Kevin Thiele.jpg
Scientific classification edit
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

Wikidata ☰ {{{from}}} entry