Anthosachne scabra – Native Wheat grass

Native Wheat grass (scientific name Elymus scaber, formelly Anthosacne Scabra) is an all year green perennial grass with a tussocky habit. The leaves are narrow, rough along the edges and have a half-twist. It grows from 30 to 100 cm high and flowers from late spring to summer. The seedheads are quite long (up to 1.5 m) and can become lax and fall over. Seeds have one long awn per seed, but often remain joined together as a group even when they have dropped from the stem. The plant remains green throughout the summer as long as there is some soil moisture.

Native Wheat grass is found in all Australian states except the Northern Territory and is more common in districts with cool winters. In mature stands, wheat grass often forms only a small percentage of the sward probably owing to its high palatability at certain times of the year. Habitats where it can be found are plains grasslands, redgum woodland, and dry sclerophyll forests.

USES

An attractive, useful grass for both pasture and revegetation. Revegetation is one of the best uses because Wheat grass establishes rapidly and has high seedling vigour. This native pasture grass is incredibly versatile. Many customers have been successfully using the Native Wheat grass as a cover crop to accompany a slower growing grass such as Wallaby grass.

Pasture –it occurs naturally with other grasses and is one of the first to start growing in spring, providing early green feed. It has high to moderate feed value. It is drought resistant, frost tolerant and has strong winter and early spring growth. Native Wheat grass is best used for revegetation or pasture. Native Wheat grass is easier to establish than many other native grass species. The seedheads should be clipped into individual florets, each containing one seed. Preferred depth for sowing is around 10 mm in autumn to winter. With moist conditions, the seed takes from seven to ten days to germinate. The seedlings are hairy and bluish in colour. They progress rapidly through to the five to seven leaf stage.

This product is available for Western Australia.