''Rytidosperma caespitosum'', known by various common names including common wallaby-grass, ringed wallaby-grass, and white-top, is a species of grass native to southern parts of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Description

It is a tufted perennial grass that reaches up to 90 centimetres high. Flowers are purple or green, and occur in a panicle of from 10 to 30 spikelets, each of which contains from four to nine individual flowers.

Taxonomy

It was first collected from

Shark Bay Shark Bay (Malgana: ''Gathaagudu'', "two waters") is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/shark-bay area is located approximately north of Perth, on the ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré (September 4, 1789 – January 16, 1854) was a French botanist. Biography Gaudichaud was born in Angoulême, to J-J. Gaudichaud and Rose (Mallat) Gaudichaud. He studied pharmacology informally at Cognac and Angoulême, ...

, botanist to the expedition of

Louis de Freycinet Louis Claude de Saulces de Freycinet (7 August 1779 – 18 August 1841) was a French Navy officer. He circumnavigated the earth, and in 1811 published the first map to show a full outline of the coastline of Australia. Biography He was born at ...

. It was published by Gaudichaud-Beaupré in 1829 under the name ''Danthonia caespitosa''. During the 1960s and 1970s it was transferred firstly into ''

Notodanthonia ''Rytidosperma'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. Most of the species occur in Australasia, with a few in insular Southeast Asia, southern South America (Chile + Argentina), and certain islands of the Pacific (Hawaii + Easter Island). S ...

'' and then into ''

Rytidosperma ''Rytidosperma'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. Most of the species occur in Australasia, with a few in insular Southeast Asia, southern South America (Chile + Argentina), and certain islands of the Pacific (Hawaii + Easter Island).

''. In 1993 it was transferred into ''

Austrodanthonia ''Rytidosperma'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. Most of the species occur in Australasia, with a few in insular Southeast Asia, southern South America (Chile + Argentina), and certain islands of the Pacific (Hawaii + Easter Island).

'' by

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. However, in 2010 Austrodanthonia was again submerged into a broader Rytidosperma, and all Austrodanthonia species are now considered part of the genus Rytidosperma.

Distribution and habitat

It occurs throughout the wetter, cooler parts of southern

. It is found in many diverse habitats, and tolerates a range of soils, including sands, loams, granite, and laterite. It is considered one of the main native pasture grasses in southern Australia

Ecology

Flowering occurs in spring or summer, usually in response to rain.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q15521812, from2=Q4825620 Danthonioideae Poales of Australia Angiosperms of Western Australia Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of Tasmania Flora of New South Wales Flora of the Australian Capital Territory