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.
| Rytidosperma caespitosum | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Genus: | Rytidosperma |
| Species: | R. caespitosum
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| Binomial name | |
| Rytidosperma caespitosum | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Description
editIt 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
editIt 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
editIt 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
editFlowering occurs in spring or summer, usually in response to rain.[3]
References
edit- ^ Rytidosperma caespitosum (NSW PlantNet)
- ^ a b "Austrodanthonia caespitosa (Gaudich.) H.P.Linder". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ a b c "New South Wales Flora Online: Austrodanthonia caespitosa". Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia.
- ^ "Austrodanthonia caespitosa (Gaudich.) H.P.Linder". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Flora of Victoria".
- ^ Bell, Una (2008), Common native grasses of south-west WA, [Mundaring, Western Australia] [Una Bell], retrieved 30 October 2016