Neurachne alopecuroidea
R.Br. Fox-tail Mulga-grassPerennial, producing small tussocks from a short, stout rhizome. Culms erect, to 60 cm high. Leaves with scattered hairs or occasionally glabrous; blade flat or inrolled, (2–)4–10(–15) cm long and 1.5–4 mm wide, firm, with thickened pale, often tuberculate-hairy margins; ligule c. 0.5 mm long. Inflorescence a dense, silky, blue-grey, ovoid to cylindric raceme, 1–3 cm long and 1–1.5 cm wide. Spikelets subsessile, 8–12 mm long; lower glume 3–5-nerved, lanceolate, 6–11 mm long, bearded at least along the margin; upper glume prominently 9–11-nerved, as long as the spikelet, tapered to a hardened point, densely silky-hairy along margins, more sparsely so along nerves; lower floret with lemma 7-nerved, 5–7 mm long, ciliate, palea rudimentary to sub-equal to its lemma; upper floret bisexual, sub-equal to lower floret but thin-textured. Flowers Aug.–Dec.
LoM, MuM, Wim, GleP, VVP, VRiv, OtP, Gold, CVU, GGr, DunT, HNF. Also WA, SA. Occurs on sandy ground under mallee-scrub, heathland and woodlands the Big and Little Deserts and the Grampians (including Mt Arapiles), with outlying southern records near Dartmoor and Inverleigh near Geelong.
A record of Thyridolepis (formerly Neurachne) mitchelliana (Nees) S.T. Blake, from a single specimen purportedly collected in north-west Victoria late last century has not been substantiated since and is probably a result of mislabelling. Thyridolepis mitchelliana occurs in arid areas of all other mainland States. It and other members of its genus are distinguished from Neurachne by the presence of a hyaline 'window' near the base of the lower glume.
The epithet 'alopecuroides' is sometimes used, but Robert Brown's original spelling 'alopecuroidea' is preferred here.
Walsh, N.G. (1994). Poaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 356–627. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
