Finger like

A tufted, perennial grass growing to 1 m but usually to about 60 cm. Stems are spreading at the base and root at the nodes. Leaves are 5 to 30 cm long and 4 mm wide, tapering to a fine point. Flower heads consist of 5 to 15 spikes, about 6 cm long, which are clustered at the top of upright stalks. Spikelets are closely spaced in 2 rows on the spikes. They are characteristically purple in colour and have three fine, hair-like projections giving the spikes a shaggy look.

Purpletop Chloris is widespread and common in areas of poor soil. The combination of poor cane growth and the presence of this weed is a good indication that soil is saline or sodic. It also grows on the highly compacted soils of roadsides.

172. Feathertop rhodes grass

Chloris virgata

An annual grass with branched, semi-prostrate stems which root at the joints. Leaves are bright green, 10 to 20 cm long, 0.5 cm wide and tapering to a fine point. Flower heads are silvery-white, with 7 to 10 spikes, 5 to 10 cm long, bunched at the top of slender upright stalks. Spikelets are numerous and crowded on to the spikes in 2 rows. Each has 2 to 3, long, fine bristles which give the head its characteristic, fluffy appearance.

Feathertop Rhodes Grass is widespread and common. It is mainly a weed of headlands, roadsides and waste ground.

173. Couch grass

Cynodon dactylon

A perennial grass with fibrous roots, tough underground stems and wiry stems creeping over the ground surface. It often forms a dense sward. Leaves are green and are borne in small tufts on the creeping stems. Flower heads of 3 to 5 short spikes radiate in a finger like pattern from the top of the stalks. Spikelets are small, pale, straw-coloured, and closely packed in two rows along the underside of each spike.

Couch Grass is found in all cane growing districts. It grows on headlands, roadways and other frequently mowed areas. In cane it is not easily controlled with herbicides or by cultivation. Invasion into cane fields from headlands is a common problem. Couch Grass is useful as a soil binder to reduce soil erosion in waterways.

174. Coast button grass

Dactyloctenium aegyptium

Similar to Button Grass but somewhat more erect. Spikes are fewer in number, often only two. These are longer, sometimes up to 5 cm but the spikelets are about half the length, usually 3 mm.

Coast Button Grass is widespread in coastal areas. It is a weed of headlands, roadsides and gardens.

175. Button grass

Dactyloctenium radulans

A short, annual grass, prostrate to slightly erect and with branching stems. Stems are smooth, hairless, slender and branching at the nodes. Leaves are on the stems, flat, about 8 cm long, 3 to 4 mm wide at the base and tapering to a point. Flower heads are made up of 3 to 10 short spikes each about 1 cm long and in a tight whorl at the top of the stem. Spikelets are arranged in 2, closely packed, rows along each spike.

Button Grass is widespread throughout drier areas and is a common weed of roadsides, headlands and cultivated areas such as gardens.

176. Sheda grass

Dicanthium annulatum

A tufted, perennial grass growing to about 60 cm. Stems are erect, smooth and densely branching at the base and also branching at the upper nodes. The nodes have a characteristic ring of white hairs. Leaves are narrow and finely pointed, 8 to 15 cm long, 2 to 7 mm wide and are sometimes hairy. They are often bluish- to purplish-green. Flower heads consist of 1 to 5 spikes which are up to 9 cm long and arise from one point at the top of a slender stalk. Spikes are usually purplish, 3 to 4 cm long and with soft, short, white hairs.

Sheda grass and Angleton Grass (D. aristatum) are winter flowering, common in many areas and often found growing side by side. They are weeds of headlands, roadsides and gardens.

177. Angleton grass

Dicanthium aristatum

Very similar to Sheda Grass. Angleton Grass can be distinguished by the presence of white hairs on the upper part of the stems. In the illustration Angleton Grass is on the left and Sheda Grass on the right.

178. Crowsfoot grass

Eleusine indica