Anthoxanthum odoratum L., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  yes

Common name(s): [more details]

English: spring grass, sweet vernalgrass

French: flouve odorante

Spanish: alpistillo, grama de olor

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Slender perennials, forming small tufts; culms erect or spreading, 30-60 cm long, ca. 1 mm in diameter, hollow, glabrous, nodes darker than internodes, glabrous.  Sheaths 3-8 cm long, striate, shorter than internodes, glabrous or with weak retrorse hairs, ciliate at throat; ligule conspicuous, sometimes purple, membranous, 1.5-4 mm long; blades 5-20 cm long, 2-7 mm wide, glabrous or with scattered weak, soft hairs, conspicuously auriculate.  Inflorescence a spike-like, solitary, terminal, cylindrical panicle 3-8 cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm in diameter, peduncle slender, smooth, 10-35 cm long, rachis obscured by the closely imbricate spikelets, the branches very short; spikelets subsessile, lanceoloid, 6.5-10 mm long; glumes membranous, glabrous or with scattered weak hairs, first glume ovate, acute, 3.5-4 mm long, 1-nerved, scabrous on the nerve, second glume ovate, acuminate, 6.5-8.5 mm long, 3-nerved, scabrous on nerves, scaberulous between the nerves; sterile lemmas subequal, oblong, 2.5-3.2 mm long, apex bifid, brownish appressed hirsute, first lemma awned from slightly below apex, the awn straight, ca. 6 mm long, the second lemma awned from near base, the awn geniculate, ca. 6 mm long; fertile floret 2-2.5 mm long, enclosed within the 2 sterile lemmas, lemma reddish to dark brown, glossy, broadly ovate, glabrous, acute; palea membranous, narrow, obtuse, ca. 1.5 mm long, wholly enclosed by the lemma.  Caryopsis linear, 1.3-2.5 mm long"  (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1498, 1904).

Description from World Grass Species.

Habitat/ecology:  This small, perennial bunchgrass forms extensive ground cover in open mesic and dry habitats at moderate to high elevations. It invades disturbed areas, preventing the reestablishment of native species.  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in pastures, disturbed areas in wet forest, and sometimes subalpine shrubland, 840-2,140 m"  (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1498, 1904).

Propagation:  Seed, dispersed by wind, water and animals.

Native range:  Eurasia; widely naturalized in temperate North America (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1498, 1904).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) Voucher cited: F.C. Allen 315 (CHR)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1498)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (p. 44) Voucher cited: T. Flynn 2179 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1498)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1498) Voucher cited: Munro s. n. (BISH)
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Kermadec Islands	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 340) "Roadsides, waste land, pasture and tussock grassland, in scrub or forest clearings, sometimes in boggy, or sandy or rocky, stony ground; sea level to subalpine".
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Raoul Island	introduced invasive	Sykes, W. R. (1977) (p. 162)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced invasive	Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. (1998) (p. 141)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. (1998) (p. 141)
China China	China (People's Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 16)
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 28)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 28)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 340) "Roadsides, waste land, pasture and tussock grassland, in scrub or forest clearings, sometimes in boggy, or sandy or rocky, stony ground; sea level to subalpine".

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Très envahissant"

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced invasive	Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. (1998) (p. 141)

Comments:  Often introduced as a pasture grass.

Control: 

Physical:  "Manual control includes hand pulling of individual plants and mowing.  Mowing should be carried out early in the season, before seeds are ripened".

Chemical:  "The herbicide dalapon has proved to be effective for control of this grass"  (Weber, 2003; p. 49).

Additional information:  Additional online information about Anthoxanthum odoratum is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Anthoxanthum odoratum may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. 1998. Potential environmental weeds in Australia: Candidate species for preventative control. Canberra, Australia. Biodiversity Group, Environment Australia. 208 pp.

Edgar, E./Connor, H. 2000. Flora of New Zealand, vol. V: Gramineae. Manaaki Whenua Press. .

Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar. 1980. Grass weeds, vol. 2. CIBA-GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 137 pp. + plates.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

Lavergne, Christophe. 2006. List des especes exotiques envahissantes a La Reunion. Unpublished manuscript (Excel file). .

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. 1995. Contributions to the flora of Hawai‘i. III. New additions, range extensions, and rediscoveries of flowering plants. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 41:19-58.

Meyer, Jean-Yves. 2000. Preliminary review of the invasive plants in the Pacific islands (SPREP Member Countries). In: Sherley, G. (tech. ed.). Invasive species in the Pacific: A technical review and draft regional strategy. South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Samoa. 190 pp.

Orchard, Anthony E., ed. 1994. Flora of Australia. Vol. 49, Oceanic islands 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Sykes, W. R. 1977. Kermadec Islands flora: an annotated checklist. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 219, Wellington. 216 pp.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Weber, Ewald. 2003. Invasive plants of the World. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 548 pp.