Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Synonyms Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Vulpia myuros (L.) C.C. Gmel.

Two forms of this species are present in Australia:

Vulpia myuros (L.) C.C. Gmel. forma megalura (Nutt.) Stace & Cotton
Vulpia myuros (L.) C.C. Gmel. forma myuros

Synonyms

For Vulpia myuros:

Festuca myuros L.

For Vulpia myuros forma megalura:

Festuca megalura Nutt.
Vulpia megalura (Nutt.) Rydb.
Vulpia myuros (L.) C.C. Gmel. var. megalura (Nutt.) P. Auquier

For Vulpia myuros forma myuros:

Vulpia myuros (L.) C.C. Gmel. var. myuros

Family

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

Common Names

For Vulpia myuros:

annual fescue, fall panic grass, silver grass, silvergrass, six weeks grass, vulpia

For Vulpia myuros forma megalura:

fox-tail fescue, foxtail fescue

For Vulpia myuros forma myuros:

rat tail fescue, rat tailed fescue, rat's tail fescue, rat's-tail fescue, rat-tail fescue, rattail fescue, rat-tail six-weeks grass, rat-tailed fescue

Origin

Native to northern Africa, the Azores, the Madeira Islands, the Canary Islands, large parts of Europe, the middle-east, western Asia  and the Indian Sub-continent.

Naturalised Distribution

Vulpia myuros var. megalura is widely naturalised in southern and eastern Australia (i.e. in south-eastern Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, many parts of South Australia and the southern and western parts of Western Australia). It is also naturalised on Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island.

Vulpia myuros var. myuros is even more widely naturalised in southern and eastern Australia (i.e. in south-eastern and central Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the southern and western parts of Western Australia). It is also naturalised in the southern parts of the Northern Territory.

Forms of this species are also naturalised in southern Africa, New Zealand, North America (i.e. Canada, the USA and Mexico), southern South America and Hawaii.

Notes

Silver grass (Vulpia myuros) is regarded as an environmental weed in Victoria and Western Australia.