Austral Salt-grass

Scientific Name: Distichlis distichophylla

Description: Austral Salt-grass has long, creeping rhizomes and leaves that are thin and rigid. It forms a spreading, occasionally dense and lightly prickly clump. This coarse, prickly grass likes moist saline soils and is an important plant on the dune edges. It has separate male and female plants, with 2 – 4 flowers on male plants, and often more on the female. Useful as a soil binder in saltmarsh or on primary dune. This plant is similar in appearance to the invasive Couch grass (Cynodon dactylon) and native Salt-couch (Sporobolus virginicus).

Plant form: Grasses and allies
Where to find: Grassy Foredune and Central Shrubland
Foliage: Thin, rigid leaves with short, spiky tips
Flower: Flat, green to straw-coloured spikelets
Flowering: October – April