Poaceae

Dactyloctenium radulans

Common Names: Button grass

Plant Form: Slender-tufted annual grass. Size: Up to 30 cm tall. Stem: Thin seed head stems, hairless and smooth, often bending at nodes. Leaves: Flat blade up to 8 cm long sometimes hairy, often with wrinkled edges, spread quite wide. Flowers: Spikes in finger like arrangement, with overlapping spikelets. Fruit and Seeds: Contain 5-11 seeds per spikelet. Entire spikes are shed from plant to disperse seeds. Habitat: Riverbanks, floodplains, swamps, pastures, grassland. Distinguishing Features: Finger like seed heads distinguish from other Crowfoot grasses (Dactyloctenium species) Impacts: Reduces crop yield, important food for plague locusts, can be toxic to stock in high doses.

Small low grass often with many seed heads