Cymbopogon refractus (R.Br.) A.Camus, Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: barbwire grass, soap grass

Fijian: othangithangi, ramba, thoyangiyangi

Tahitian: aretu monoi, aretu noanoa

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Densely tufted perennials; culms 25-75 cm tall, nodes purple, glabrous.  Sheaths 2-7 mm long, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, striate, the basal ones purple to pink, more or less persistent; ligule 1-2 mm long, membranous, erose; blades narrowly linear, 15-25 cm long, ca. 1.5 mm wide, wiry, scabrous.  Inflorescences 10-30 cm long, narrow, the branches erect, racemes well-spaced, each pair partly enclosed in a slightly inflated pink or bronze spathe 2-3 mm long, racemes 2-3 cm long, slender, reflexed, rachis joints and pedicels flattened, hispid on the angles; sessile spikelets narrowly lanceolate, 4.5-5.5 mm long, acuminate, callus short-bearded, first glume strongly 2-keeled, 9-nerved, acuminate, glabrous, second glume slightly shorter, 1-keeled, 7-nerved, acute to acuminate, sterile lemma hyaline 4-4.5 mm long, acuminate, fertile lemma 3.5-4 mm long, keeled toward apex, acute and awnless, palea absent; pedicellate spikelet sterile, 3.5-5 mm long, attenuate, glabrous, first glume usually 11-nerved, second glume 2/3 as long as first glume, 3-nerved, acute, lemma absent.  Caryopsis narrowly ellipsoid, ca. 2.5 mm long" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1519, 1906).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized and common in pastures, along roadsides, and in dry, disturbed sites, 0-1,110 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1519, 1906).  In Fiji, "moderately common throughout the archipelago from sea level to about 900 m, occurring on open hillsides, reed- and fern-covered slopes, in thin forest, on rocky shores and sandy beaches, and in waste places" (Smith, 1979; p. 379). In Tonga, "uncommon in sunny areas and on limestone cliffs" (Whistler, 1992; p. 98).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Australia (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1519, 1906).

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	native	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 12) Vouchers cited: M. Lazarides 8065 (CANB, K)., R.M. Laing (CHR)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Kanathea Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 379)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Kandavu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 379) Vouchers cited: DA 8982, DA 9078
Fiji Fiji Islands	Matuku Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 379)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Moala Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 379) Voucher cited: Smith 1390
Fiji Fiji Islands	Olorua Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 379) Voucher cited: Bryan 521
Fiji Fiji Islands	Taveuni Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 379)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Totoya Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 379)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 379) Vouchers cited: DA 8723, DA 8793, Smith 6810
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 379) Vouchers cited: DA 8237, DA 8272, Smith 4266, DA 8199, Degener 14960, DA 2092, DA 5981, DA 8104, DA 2501, DA 9955
Fiji Fiji Islands	Yasawas Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 379) Voucher cited: St. John 18102
French Polynesia Society Islands	Bora Bora Island	introduced invasive	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 332) Voucher cited: Grant 5044
French Polynesia Society Islands	Bora Bora Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Adventice
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced invasive	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 332) Voucher cited: Moore 101
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced invasive	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 332)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Adventice
French Polynesia Austral (Tubuai) Islands	Raivavae (Raevavae) Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: J. Florence 5786 (PAP) Adventice
French Polynesia Austral (Tubuai) Islands	Rapa Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: J. Florence 6326 (PAP), J. Florence 6428 (PAP) Adventice
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1519) Voucher cited: Shipman s. n. (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1519)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. (1998) (p. 21) Voucher cited: Nagata 3716 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1519)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1519)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Ni‘ihau Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. (1998) (p. 21) Voucher cited: St. John 22794 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1519)
Tonga Tongatapu Group	‘Eua Island	native	Whistler, W. A. (1992) (p. 98) Vouchers cited: Hotta 5554, Whistler 7480
Tonga Vava‘u Group	Vava‘u Island	native	Whistler, W. A. (1992) (p. 98) Vouchers cited: Yuncker 16069, Hotta 4752 (n.s.)
Tonga Vava‘u Group	Vava‘u Island	native	Yuncker, T. G. (1959) (p. 66) Voucher cited: Yuncker 16069

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)	Northern Territory	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Comments:  A similar species, C. nardus (L.) Rendle (common names kamapue, citronella grass), has been reported from Niue (Sykes, 1970; p. 238).

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

Information about Cymbopogon refractus as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

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

References:

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. 1998. Notes on the grasses of Hawai‘i: new records, corrections, and name changes. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1997. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 55:17-38.

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

Smith, Albert C. 1979. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 1. 494 pp.

Sykes, W. R. 1970. Contributions to the flora of Niue. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 200, Wellington. 321 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

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).

Welsh, S. L. 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands. E.P.S. Inc., Orem, Utah. 420 pp.

Whistler, W. A. 1992. Flora of Tonga [unpublished checklist]. 107 pp.

Yuncker, T. G. 1959. Plants of Tonga. Bishop Museum Bull. 220. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 343 pp.