Tasmania has
nine native and three introduced species of Agrostis. The
characteristic features of this genus are that the inflorescence is
a panicle (usually with widely spreading branches), the spikelets
are small, flattened from side to side and have only one flower, the
glumes are quite firm, the lemma and palea are membranous,
and the palea is either absent or considerably smaller than the
lemma. The native species are mostly of high altitude and well
watered areas (even extending into rainforest), but one or two
species occur in drier forests. The introduced species are weeds
mostly of roadsides and pastures. Another nine native species
formerly included in Agrostis are now placed in
Lachnagrostis. These differ from Agrostis in having the
palea almost as long as the lemma. |