Plants of
South Australia
Amphibromus recurvatus
Poaceae
Dark Swamp Wallaby-grass
Display all 15 images
Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
Enlarge Map
Copy Map
Copy Map
Display IBRA region text

Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 3

Etymology

Amphibromus from the Greek 'amphi' meaning double and 'bromus' a grass genus, referring to the spikelets resembling those of the genus Bromus. Recurvatus from the Latin 'recurvare' meaning to bend back, referring to the spikelets with spreading or reflexed awns.

Distribution and status

Found in a few sites on Kangaroo Island and the lower South-east in South Australia, growing in damp areas such as lagoons, waterholes and swamps. Also found in Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Rare in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Kangaroo Island, South Eastern
NRM regions: Kangaroo Island, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Erect perennial grass to 1.5 m tall with leaf blades to 30 cm long and 3 mm wide, more or less glabrous below, scabrous above. Panicle erect, frequently purple-tinged to 20 cm long. Spikelets to 11 mm long, with 4-6 bisexual florets. Glumes subequal, more or less glabrous, frequently tinged with purple. Flowering between November and January. Fruits are lemma densely hairy, to 5.2 mm long with apex 4-toothed; teeth more or less equal, 0.43-1 mm long with purple veins extending to the teeth. Awn arising 34-45 (rarely 50)% of the lemma length from the a tip, bent, scarcely twisted;, hairy 9.7-18 mm long, pale-brown to purple-brown. Seeds are yellow-brown grain to 3mm long. Seed embryo type is lateral.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between November and February. Use hands to gently strip seeds off the mature seed spike that are turning straw colour. Mature seeds will come off easily. Alternatively, you can break off the whole seed spike. Place the seeds/spike in a tray and leave to dry for two weeks. No further cleaning is required if only seed collected. If seed spikes collected, use hand to strip off the mature seeds. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. Seed viability can be low to high depending on maturity. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily.

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
15,000 (9.8 g)
15,000 (9.8 g)
100+4-Dec-2006TST119
South Eastern
1-Aug-200710%+5°C, -18°C
BGA8,500 (3.17 g)5023-Nov-2007RJB75971
South Eastern
19-Sep-200895%+5°C, -18°C
BGA7,000 (31.29 g)5021-Dec-2007RJB76663
South Eastern
19-Sep-200875%+5°C, -18°C
BGA11,300 (11.35 g)100+11-Dec-2018DJD3836
South Eastern
24-Apr-201985%-18°C, -80°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.