Silky Blue Grass is a tufted, usually glaucous grass, up to 80 cm high. The stem nodes are fringed with spreading hairs and the leaf blade is flat, 15 cm by 4 mm. The inflorescence consists of 2 to 6 racemes, each up to 6 cm long, joined at their bases. The racemes are densely silky-hairy. Fertile lemmas are small and inconspicuous, at the base of a brown, twice bent, twisted awn up to 3 cm long.

flower head
Organ Pipes National Park, near Melbourne, Victoria, 23rd March 2002

Silky Blue Grass is a grass of grassland plains and grassy woodland. It occurs in all mainland states of Australia.

The foliage is food for some Caterpillars, for example :

Mycalesis perseus NYMPHALIDAE

Link to FAQs about Caterpillars

Australian butterflies Australian caterpillars Australian moths

Link to Flowers in Australia

(updated 28 December 2009)