Right now many local grasses are looking simply spectacular. I've previously featured the Native Sorghum (S. leiocladum), Basket Grass (Oplismenus sp.), Pygmy Panic (Panicum pygmaeum) and the Love Grasses (Eragrostis species) and they're all doing well.
But this week's standout is the Red-anther Wallaby Grass (or Rytidospermum pallidum), which has been flowering just beautifully.
Even when not in flower, it's a wonderful plant, forming low clumps or tussocks characterised by very fine dull green or grey-green leaves which have a drooping habit.
In ideal conditions it can be quite dominant and cover a large area. It isn't that common in the region, but can be seen growing in good numbers in the Croom Reserve Sporting Complex grounds, home to a substantial remnant of the critically endangered Illawarra Lowlands Grassy Woodland. It also occurs in scattered locations across the coastal plain, including Blackbutt Reserve in Blackbutt.
If I had to describe it to the casual observer, I'd say it looks like a grass that has flopped down to have a rest.
A distinctive feature of this grass is, as you'd guess from the name, the red anther (male reproductive parts) on the flowers. They're not large but they're a very bright orange-red and dangle conspicuously out of the flowers.
As the flowers develop into fruit, their colour changes to a very pale goldish silver, giving this grass its other common name of Silvertop Wallaby Grass (the scientific name also references this character, with 'pallidum' meaning pale).
I've never seen Red-anther Wallaby Grass in a garden or used in landscaping but it would be absolutely perfect for gardens across the coastal plain that used to be home to Illawarra Lowlands Grassy Woodland.
The residential development areas in West Dapto and Calderwood would be ideal to grow this grass. It would rival some of the best known native grasses such as Stout Bamboo Grass (Austrostipa ramosissima) or Tussock Grass (Poa labillardierei).
Imagine how much support we could collectively give to local pollinators and biodiversity if this grass was in the mix in gardens across the Illawarra coastal plain?
Hands up who wants to see more of this grass (and the grassy woodland it calls 'home')?
