Rytidosperma caespitosum
{{short description|Species of plant}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Rytidosperma caespitosum - Flickr - Kevin Thiele.jpg
| genus = Rytidosperma
| species = caespitosum
| authority = (Gaudich.) Connor & Edgar
| synonyms_ref = [http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Rytidosperma~caespitosum Rytidosperma caespitosum (NSW PlantNet)]
| synonyms = *Austrodanthonia caespitosa (Gaudich.) H.P.Linder
- Danthonia caespitosa Gaudich.
}}
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.
Description
It is a tufted perennial grass that reaches up to 90 centimetres high. Glumes are green with or without purple, and occur in a panicle of from 10 to 30 spikelets, each of which contains from four to nine individual flowers.{{FloraBase | name = Austrodanthonia caespitosa (Gaudich.) H.P.Linder | id = 17950}}{{NSW Flora Online | genus = Austrodanthonia | species = caespitosa}}
Taxonomy
It was first collected from Shark Bay in Western Australia by Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré, botanist to the expedition of Louis de Freycinet. It was published by Gaudichaud-Beaupré in 1829 under the name Danthonia caespitosa. During the 1960s and 1970s it was transferred firstly by Zotov into Notodanthonia and then by Connor & Edgar into Rytidosperma. In 1993 it was transferred into Austrodanthonia by Hans Peter Linder.{{APNI | name = Austrodanthonia caespitosa (Gaudich.) H.P.Linder | id = 202798}} However, in 2010 Austrodanthonia was again submerged into a broader Rytidosperma, and all Austrodanthonia species are now considered part of the genus Rytidosperma.{{Cite journal|url=https://bioone.org/journals/annals-of-the-missouri-botanical-garden/volume-97/issue-3/2009006/A-Generic-Classification-of-the-Danthonioideae-Poaceaea-classinternal-link-hreffn1/10.3417/2009006.short|doi=10.3417/2009006|title=A Generic Classification of the Danthonioideae (Poaceae)1|year=2010|last1=Linder|first1=H. Peter|last2=Baeza|first2=Marcelo|last3=Barker|first3=Nigel P.|last4=Galley|first4=Chloé|last5=Humphreys|first5=Aelys M.|last6=Lloyd|first6=Kelvin M.|last7=Orlovich|first7=David A.|last8=Pirie|first8=Michael D.|last9=Simon|first9=Bryan K.|last10=Walsh|first10=Neville|last11=Verboom|first11=G. Anthony|journal=Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden|volume=97|issue=3|pages=306–364|s2cid=86082569}}{{cite web | url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/de8ffcc4-1a6d-491e-86af-4ebb7be679c3 | title=Flora of Victoria }}
Distribution and habitat
It occurs throughout the wetter, cooler parts of southern Australia, through to hot, arid land such as Shark Bay. Its many forms span diverse habitats, variously tolerating a range of salinity and soils, including sands, loams, limestone, granite and laterite. It is considered one of the main native pasture grasses in southern Australia{{Citation | author1=Bell, Una |title=Common native grasses of south-west WA | date=2008 | publisher=[Mundaring, Western Australia] [Una Bell] | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/28034620 | accessdate=30 October 2016 }}
Ecology
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q15521812|from2=Q4825620}}
Category:Angiosperms of Western Australia
Category:Flora of South Australia
Category:Flora of Victoria (state)