Useful grass

One of the most recognizable members of the grass family Poaceae in Australia. A tufted perennial to 1.5 metres tall and 0.5 metres across. Leaves 10-50 cm long and 2-5 mm wide, green to grey drying to an orange brown in summer. Flowers in December to February – large red-brown spikelets, which occur on branched stems. Spikelets have long distinguishing spathes at their base and bare florets with black awns 4-7 cm long, which remain with the seed when it falls. While also known as T. australis with the common name it is also widespread in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. The plant has traditional uses as food and medicine in Africa and Australia. Indigenous Australians harvested it to make bread and string for fishing nets around 30,000 years ago. Themeda – from the Arabic word thaemed, which means a depression in which water lies after rain, subsequently drying in summer.

Photo: Shutterstock

Seed collecting and propagation

Can be grown from seed or by division of older clumps, although it doesn’t transplant well. Generally the seed has a dormancy period of up to 12 months depending on the area where it was collected. Fire or temperatures of 40-45 degrees Celsius may break dormancy. Approximately 2-3 of seeds collected from one inflorescence will be infertile. It is sometimes hard to distinguish fertile from infertile seeds as they both turn brown and hold on to their awns, generally fertile seed is larger. 

Photo: Robert Whyte