Botanical art
Prior names
Cymbopogon bombycinus
Common names
Silky-heads Lemon Grass
Silky-head Lemon-grass
Silky-heads
Etymology
Cymbopogon from the Greek 'kymbe' meaning a boat and 'pogon' meaning a beard; alluding to the boat-shaped spatheoles subtending the hairy racemes. Obtectus from the Latin 'obtego' meaning conceal, alluding to the species being split from a closely related species.
Distribution and status
Found mainly in the northern part of South Australia with disjunct distribution in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges, growing near watercourses. Also found in all mainland states. Maybe extinct from Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Very rare or extinct in Victoria. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: North Western, Lake Eyre, Gairdner-Torrens, Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Southern Lofty, Green Adelaide
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
A handsome scented grass, to 90 cm high. Leaf blades narrow but usually flat, tapering to a long fine point, ligule 3-5 mm long, glabrous, nodes glabrous. Flower-spike shortly branched panicle, finally bent downwards, emerging from a sheathing bract, densely silky-villous owing to the long hairs arising from the pedicels and articles of the rhachis and almost completely concealing the spikelets and awns. First glume of fertile spikelet 5-nerved between the keels, somewhat obtuse. Second glume with a central keel expanded into a narrow wing, awn inconspicuous, very slender, less than 1 cm long. Flowering between March and September. Fruits are fertile lemma to 4.5 mm long, without keel, 1-3 -nerved. Lemma apex lobed with 1 awn to 8 mm long overall, without a column or with a straight or slightly twisted column. Palea absent. Seeds are yellow grain to 2.5 mm long. Seed embryo type is lateral.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between July and December. Use hands to gently strip seeds off the mature seed spike that are fluffy from the hairs and 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 average.
| Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BGA MSB | 9,200 (24.1 g) 9,200 (24.1 g) | 50 | 26-Oct-2004 | DJD21 Gairdner-Torrens | 28-Mar-2006 | 45% | -18°C |
| BGA | 5,000 (13.24 g) | 30+ | 24-May-2012 | KHB687 Flinders Ranges | 1-Jan-2016 | 45% | -18°C |
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.