Etymology
Dichelachne from the Greek 'dichelos' meaning cloven-footed and 'achne' meaning chaff or scale, referring to bilobed lemmas. Hirtella from the Latin 'hirtus' meaning hairy, referring to the scabrous-hairy indumentum of the lemma and awn.
Distribution and status
Found in the southern Mt. Lofty Ranges and Kangaroo Island in South Australia, growing in dry areas with skeletal, often rocky soils in open forest with low shrub, open woodland and heathy woodland. Also found in New South Wales and Victoria. Native. Rare in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Narrowly tufted annual or perennial grass with erect culms to 150 cm high with smooth or scabrous leaves that are flat or weakly folded blades. Panicle cylindrical to 25 cm long and moderately to very dense. Glumes narrowly acute to 10 mm long, subequal with lower shorter than upper glume. Flowering between November and December. Lemma scabrous-pubescent with hairs to 0.3 mm; post-awn lobe to 2 mm long; awn mostly 15–30 mm long, column pubescent with hairs to 0.3 mm long, strongly twisted. Seeds are yellow-brown grain. Seed embryo type is lateral.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between December 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. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily.