Dichanthium annulatum (Forssk.) Stapf, Poaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: shuang hua cao

English: Angleton grass, bluestem, Diaz bluestem, Hindi grass, Kleberg bluestem, marvel grass, ringed dichanthium, sheda grass, two-flowered goldenbeard, vunda blue grass

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Perennials; culms 25-100 cm tall, geniculately ascending, nodes pubescent.  Sheaths lax, terete, 3-4 cm long, glabrous except finely pubescent on margins near throat; ligule a shallow membrane, ca. 1.5 mm long; blades linear-acuminate, 3-30 cm long, 2-7 mm wide, margins sparsely pubescent and scaberulous, apex attenuate, base subcordate.  Inflorescences composed of (1) 2-15 subdigitate, short-pedunculate racemes, each raceme 3-7 cm long, peduncles glabrous; spikelet pairs subimbricate along a slender filiform axis, with 0-6 smaller homogamous spikelet pairs at base, the joints and pedicels flattened, margins setose; sessile spikelet narrowly oblong, 2-6 mm long, first glume cartilaginous, slightly concave, villous below the middle, pubescent with long bulbous-based hairs above the middle, obscurely nerved, margins inflexed, apex obtuse to subacute, second glume narrowly boat-shaped, 2-6 mm long, 3-nerved, scabrid on back of the midnerve toward apex, obscurely scaberulous over the back toward apex, hyaline, first lemma delicately hyaline, oblong-rounded, setose near tip, ca. 2 mm long, palea absent, second lemma linear, ca. 1.6 mm long, hyaline, with the central nerve excurrent as a geniculate, twisted awn 8-25 mm long; pedicellate spikelet with first glume narrowly ovate-truncate, ca. 3 mm long, 11-nerved, pectinate-setose along the back of the inflexed margins, midnerve setose on the back toward apex.  Caryopsis oblong to obovate, dorsally compressed, ca. 2 mm long"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1528).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in lawns, urban areas, and along roadsides, 10-340 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1528).  In Fiji, "from sea level to about 150 m on open hillsides, seashores, in canefields, and along roadsides" (Smith, 1979; p. 384). In New Caledonia, "commun en pâturages, bords de routes et autres lieux incultes" (MacKee, 1994; p. 59). "Occasional in disturbed places, particularly in dry coastal areas" (Whistler, 1988; p. 50).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Northern Africa through the Middle East to India and Indonesia (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1528).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island	probably introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (pp. 384-385) Voucher cited: DA 8722
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	probably introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (pp. 384-385) Vouchers cited: DA 9732, DA 15211, DA 9734, DA 10285, DA 3496, Gillespie 3163.9, DA 7383, Degener & Ordonez 13512, DA 9106, DA 2024
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, Randal T. (2002) (p. 10) West Maui. Voucher cited: Oppenheimer H40028 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Hughes, Guy D'Oyly (1995) (p. 8) Voucher cited: Hughes 317 (US) Sparingly naturalized along roadsides.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1528) Voucher cited: Mann & Brigham 115 (BISH)
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands	introduced invasive	Gargominy, Oliver/Bouchet, Philipe/Pascal, Michel/Jaffre, Tanguy/Tourneu, Jean-Christophe (1996) (p. 380) Commune en pâturages, bords de routes et autres lieux incultes.
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 59) Voucher cited: Vieillard 1513
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced invasive	Sykes, W. R. (1970) (p. 239) Voucher cited: CHR 168786
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced invasive	Whistler, W. A. (1988) (p. 50) Uncommon
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island		Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.) (1982) (voucher ID: BNM 3160) Taxon name on voucher: Dichanthium annulatum
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Whistler, W. A. (1988) (p. 50) Voucher cited: Whistler 5127

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)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 39)
China China	China (People's Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 39)
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 331) On grassy hillslopes.
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 192)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 33) Naturalised
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago	Diego Garcia Island	introduced invasive	Whistler, W. Arthur (1996) (p. 24)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 125)

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

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

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

References:

Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.). 1982. Voucher specimen #BNM3160(Timberlake, J. 3160).

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Gargominy, Oliver/Bouchet, Philipe/Pascal, Michel/Jaffre, Tanguy/Tourneu, Jean-Christophe. 1996. Conséquences des introductions d'espèces animales et végétales sur la biodiversité en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Rev. Ecol. (Terre Vie) 51:375-401.

Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar. 1980. Grass weeds, vol. 1. CIBA-GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 142 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.

Hughes, Guy D'Oyly. 1995. New Hawaiian plant records II. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 42:1-10.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, Randal T. 2002. New plant records from the main Hawaiian Islands. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2000. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 69:1-14.

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).

Whistler, W. A. 1988. Checklist of the weed flora of western Polynesia. Technical Paper No. 194, South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 69 pp.

Whistler, W. Arthur. 1996. Botanical survey of Diego Garcia, Chagos Archipelago, British Indian Ocean Territory. Isle Botanica. 49 pp.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).