Eragrostis pilosa (L.) Beauv., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Eragrostis multicaulis Steud.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: hairy love grass, India love grass, Indian love grass, pilose eragrostis, small tufted lovegrass, soft lovegrass, spear grass

French: éragrostide poilue, pâturin poilu

Spanish: barba de indio, pasto ilusión, pasto pelillo, sereno

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Loosely tufted annual up to 70 cm tall; culms erect or ascending.  Leaf sheaths glabrous; leaf blades linear, flat, attenuate, up to 20 cm x 0.4 cm, glabrous. Panicles open, elliptic to ovate, 4-25 cm long, lowest branches whorled except in smallest panicles, capillary, usually with a few long white hairs in axils; spikelets purplish green, linear-ovate, ca 0.5 mm long, nerveless, upper ovate, acute, 1-1.5 mm long, 1-nerved; lemmas broadly ovate, blunt to subacute, 1.3-2 mm long, obscurely 3-nerved, minutely scabrid along keel" (Stanley & Ross, 1989; vol. 3, p. 169).

"Annual, tufted, culms slender, up to 1 m high; leaf-blades relatively short and narrow, up to 3 mm broad; panicle delicate, open, 5-20 cm long, grayish, branches spreading or ascending; spikelets dark, 4-10 flowered, about 6 mm long; glumes and lemmas 3-nerved"  (Stone, 1970; p. 191).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  "Although it prefers moist pastures and open, disturbed ground, it also frequents roadsides and waste places that are often seasonally dry and only infrequently disturbed.  It may appear at altitudes of 500 to 3200 m"  (Holm et al., 1997; p. 347).

In Hawai‘i, "adventive in arid, disturbed sites" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1538, 1908).  In Fiji, "from sea level to about 800 m, sprawling or in dense clumps on hillsides, in swamps, on cultivated land, and along roadsides"  (Smith, 1979; p 301). "Naturalized sparingly in Guam" (Stone, 1970; p. 191). In American Samoa and Samoa, "uncommon in disturbed places" (Whistler, 1988; p. 52).

Propagation:  Seed.  "Water, wind, and soil movement are the most likely dispersal agents, with help from man.  It spreads with hay movement and perhaps in crop seed." Also spread by machinery and road and railroad traffic (Holm et al., 1997; p. 348).

Native range:  Southern Europe and most tropical and subtropical parts of the Old World (Stone, 1970; p. 191).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
American Samoa Manu‘a Islands	Ofu Island		Whistler, W. A. (1990) Voucher cited: Whistler 3051
American Samoa Tutuila Islands	Tutuila Island		Whistler, W. A. (1988) (p. 52) As E. multicaulis. Voucher cited: Lamoureux 3065
Federated States of Micronesia Chuuk Islands	Weno (Moen) Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 42)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 42)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 301) Vouchers cited: Greenwood 2, DA 8220, DA 8203, DA 2835, Greenwood 1175, DA 7967, DA 10168, DA 7915, DA 2832, DA 4005, Billespie 3572, C.R. Turbet 40, DA 9092
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Marquesas Islands		Welsh, S. L. (1998)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced invasive	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 337)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced invasive	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 191) Sparingly naturalized.
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 42)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (pp. 45-46) Vouchers cited: T. Flynn 630 (BISH, PTBG), D. Lorence & P. O'Connor 5761 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. (1998) (pp. 27-28) Voucher cited: Munro 466 (BISH)
Japan (offshore islands) Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands	Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands	introduced	Kato, Hidetoshi (2007)
Kiribati Line Islands	Kiritimati (Christmas) Atoll	introduced invasive	Wester, Lyndon (1985) (p. 16)
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 92)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island		Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.) (1982) (voucher ID: BNM 3174) Taxon name on voucher: Eragrostis pilosa
Palau Palau (main island group)	Koror Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 42)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 345)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 345)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Whistler, W. A. (1988) (p. 52) As E. multicaulis. Voucher cited: Whistler 2073
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 92)
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands	introduced	Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. (1988) (p. 71)

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	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 345)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 345)
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 73)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 345)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 345)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
North Korea North Korea	North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
South Korea South Korea	South Korea (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 345)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 145)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Christmas Island Group	Christmas Island	introduced invasive	Swarbrick, J. T. (1997) (p. 113)

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

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

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

Other Latin names:  Eragrostis multicaulis Steud.

References:

Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.). 1982. Voucher specimen #BNM3174(Timberlake, J. 3174).

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1987. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian monocotyledonae. Micronesica 20:1-126.

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

Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. 1988. Flora of the Solomon Islands. Research Bulletin No. 7. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Honiara. 203 pp.

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.

Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James. 1997. World weeds: natural histories and distribution. John Wiley & Sons. 1129 pp.

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.

Kato, Hidetoshi. 2007. Herbarium records of Makino Herbarium, Tokyo Metropolitan University. Personal communication.

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.

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

Stanley, T. D./Ross, E. M. 1989. Flora of south-eastern Queensland. Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Misc. Pub. 81020. 3 Volumes.

Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.

Swarbrick, J. T. 1997. Environmental weeds and exotic plants on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean: a report to Parks Australia. 101 pp. plus appendix.

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. 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.

Wester, Lyndon. 1985. Checklist of the vascular plants of the northern Line Islands. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Atoll Reseach Bulletin 287:1-38.

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. A. 1990. The weeds of Manu‘a [unpublished checklist]. 18 pp.