Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Synonyms Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Cenchrus setigerus Vahl

Synonyms

Pennisetum setigerum (Valhl) Wipff

Cenchrus setiger Vahl
Cenchrus setigerus Vahl

Family

Gramineae (South Australia)
Poaceae (Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory)

Common Names

Birdwood grass

Origin

Native to north-eastern Africa (i.e. Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania), the Arabian Peninsula (i.e. Yemen), southern Iran and the Indian sub-continent (i.e. India and Pakistan).

Naturalised Distribution

Naturalised in many parts of northern and central Australia. It is scattered throughout Queensland, the Northern Territory, the northern parts of New South Wales and the north-eastern parts of South Australia. However, it is most common in the northern and north-western parts of Western Australia.

Notes

Birdwood grass (Cenchrus setigerus) often dominates grasslands and the understorey layer of savanna woodlands in northern Australia. During a recent survey, this introduced grass was listed as a priority environmental weed in one Natural Resource Management region.

It is also common in coastal habitats and is ranked among the top ten environmental weeds in the coastal districts of the Kimberley and Pilbara regions of northern Western Australia. Birdwood grass (Cenchrus setigerus) is also regarded as an environmental weed in the desert uplands bioregion in Queensland and grows on red sandy soils in bimble box communities in inland New South Wales.