Sporobolus mitchellii
(Trin.) C.E.Hubb. ex S.T.Blake Rat-tail CouchTufted or stoloniferous perennial with spreading prostrate or erect stems, culms to 50 cm high. Leaves often somewhat glaucous, glabrous to ciliate; blade flat or incurved, 1–10 cm long and 1–2.5 mm wide, scabrous-pubescent on upper surface, ribbed; ligule c. 0.5 mm long but often with longer hairs at the sides. Inflorescence a narrow, dense to rather sparse, spikelike panicle, 2–12 cm long and 3–8 mm wide. Spikelets 1.8–2.5 mm long, dull, straw-coloured or slightly greyish; glumes membranous, rounded on the back, acute, subequal, slightly shorter than the spikelet; lemma and palea membranous, acute, subequal; palea shallowly grooved along the midline. Flowers Nov.–Apr.
MuM, Wim, VRiv, MSB, RobP, MuF. All mainland states. Usually occurring on shores of rivers and freshwater to subsalline swamps and shallow drainage lines, principally along the Murray River and associated wetlands downstream from Barmah Forest, but with occasional occurrences further south, e.g. at Lake Hindmarsh and swamps near Edenhope.
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.