Species

Andropogon virginicus

Common Name(s)

broomsedge

Authority

Andropogon virginicus L.

Family

Poaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

ANDVIR

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Grasses

Habitat

Terrestrial.

Features

Erect, coarse, brownish, tufted perennial 30-100 cm tall. Roots densely fibrous. Stems solid, slender to stout, slightly flattened, several per tuft, upper part branched. Leaves green or bluish-green, narrow, 15-30 cm long, flat or folded, hairy near base above and on ligule. Sheaths compressed, keeled, enfolding each other. Seedhead long and narrow, with paired racemes of 2-4 clusters, each 10-45 mm long with prominent tufts of white hairs enclosed by reddish-brown leaves. Seed 3 mm long, brown, bearded.

Similar Taxa

The solid stems and long narrow seedhead make broomsedge distinctive in New Zealand.

Year Naturalised

1976

Origin

North and Central America, West Indies

Reason For Introduction
Accidental

Life Cycle Comments
Perennial

Seed
Seeds about 3mm long, brown bearded (Wax, Fawcett, Isley eds. 1981).

References and further reading

Gardner, R.O., Champion. R. and de Lange, P.J. 1996. Andropogon virginicus and Stipa tenuissima. Auckland Botanical Society Journal, 51: 31-33.

  

This page last updated on 16 Jan 2013