Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Dichanthium annulatum (Forssk.) Stapf

Family

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

Common Names

bluestem, Diaz bluestem, Hindi grass, Hindigrass, Kleberg bluestem, Kleberg's bluestem, marvel grass, ringed dichanthium, sheda grass, shedagrass, two flowered goldenbeard, two-flowered goldenbeard, vunda blue grass

Origin

Native to Africa (i.e. Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mali, Senegal, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa), the Arabian Peninsula (i.e. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia), western Asia, the Indian Sub-continent (i.e. India, Nepal and Pakistan) and south-eastern Asia (i.e. Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea).

Naturalised Distribution

Widely naturalised in the Northern Territory and in northern, central and south-eastern Queensland.

Also naturalised overseas in southern USA (i.e. Texas and Louisiana), Hawaii and several other Pacific islands (e.g. Fiji, New Caledonia and Niue).

Notes

Sheda grass (Dichanthium annulatum) is regarded as an environmental weed in the Northern Territory, where it is highly invasive in arid wetlands. It is not currently widespread, but infestations have been recorded at Illparpa Swamp and various other locations around Alice Springs (e.g in the Georgina River system and at Running Waters on the Finke River). It may compete aggressively with important native grasses (e.g. Eriachne benthamii) in this region.

This species is also regarded as being invasive in Texas, in the USA, where it escapes from pastures and outcompetes native grasses in bluestem coastal grassland communities.