Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Ehrharta longiflora Sm.

Family

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

Common Names

annual veld grass, annual veldt grass, annual veldgrass, annual veldt-grass, annual veldtgrass, longflowered veld grass, longflowered veldtgrass, oat seed grass, tall ehrharta, veldt grass, veldtgrass

Origin

Native to southern Africa (i.e. south-western Namibia and Cape Province in South Africa).

Naturalised Distribution

Widely naturalised in southern Australia (i.e. in many parts of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, in Tasmania, and in the southern and western parts of Western Australia.

Also sparingly naturalised in south-eastern Queensland and naturalised in south-western USA (i.e. California).

Notes

This short-lived introduced grass is a weed of pastures, grasslands, open woodlands, heathlands, roadsides, disturbed sites, waste areas, lawns, parks, gardens, waterways and coastal environs. It is regarded as an environmental weed throughout south-eastern Australia and in south-western Western Australia. Annual veldtgrass (Ehrharta longiflora) competes with native ground vegetation and can change the fire regime in densely infested areas. It has a rapid growth rate, and is usually one of the first annual grasses to flower, which enhances its invasiveness and competitiveness.

In Victoria it is present in conservation areas (e.g. Dookie Bushland Reserve and Phillip Island Nature Park) and is one of several weed species that are thought to be a threat to the survival of the endangered Euroa guinea-flower (Hibbertia humifusa subsp. erigens). Annual veldtgrass (Ehrharta longiflora) also directly threatens one population of the brittle greenhood orchid (Pterostylis truncata ), which is regarded as being vulnerable in Victoria.

In south-western Western Australia, annual veldtgrass (Ehrharta longiflora) is a common weed of wetlands and waterways, invades sand dunes, and is present in eucalypt woodland communities in the Avon wheatbelt region. It is also present in conservation areas in this state (e.g. Piney Lakes Reserve) and is one of the weed species threatening Irwin's conostylis (Conostylis dielsii subsp. teres ) in the Geraldton region.

Annual veldtgrass (Ehrharta longiflora) is also present in numerous conservation areas in South Australia (e.g. Gilbertson Gully Reserve, Angove Conservation Park, Sturt Gorge Recreation Park, Coorong National Park, Sandy Creek Conservation Park, Lincoln National Park and Cudlee Creek Conservation Park).