Holcus lanatus L., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  yes

Risk assessment results:  Reject, score: 15 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: rong mao cao

English: common velvet grass, creeping soft grass, meadow softgrass, soft meadow grass, velvet grass, woolly soft grass, Yorkshire fog

French: foin de mouton, heno blanco, holoque laineuse, houlque velue

Japanese: shiragegaya

Spanish: grama vellosa, holco velloso, pasto velludo

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Perennials; culms 30-60 cm tall, velvety canescent.  Sheaths 6-12 cm long, striate, velvety canescent; ligule membranous, 1-2 mm long, narrowly lacerate, with short hairs at apex; blades 10-20 cm long, 4-8 mm wide, velvety canescent, the midrib prominent.  Inflorescences silvery to purplish, paniculate, contracted, sometimes almost spike-like, 8-15 cm long, occasionally enclosed within the uppermost sheath; spikelets 4-4.5 mm long, short-pedicellate; glumes 4-4.5 mm long, keeled, the keels hirsute, otherwise scabrous, first glume 1-nerved, 0.5-0.7 mm wide from keel to margin, second glume 3-nerved, 1-1.2 mm wide from keel to margin; lemma of perfect floret ca. 2 mm long, rather broad, slightly keeled, the keel hirtellous, lemma of staminate floret 2-2.5 mm long, narrow, acute, indistinctly keeled, the keel minutely hirtellous, apex with a hooked awn ca. 1.5 mm long; palea 1.7-2 mm long, minutely hirtellous at apex.  Caryopsis pale brown, fusiform, ca. 1.6 mm long, laterally compressed, trigonous, with an adaxial groove"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1551).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  "Coastal grassland and scrub, disturbed sites.  Where native, this grass is found in mesic to wet meadows, open forests, reed swamps, grassland, and open woods.  It is tolerant of a wide range of soils.  Itis invasive because it forms dense swards that reduce native species richness and eliminate native grasses and forbs"  (Weber, 2003; p. 201).

In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in wet, disturbed areas such as pastures, grasslands, mesic shrubland and along roadsides, 760-3,250 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1551); "suppresses establishment of natives in higher-elevation mesic areas"  (Motooka et al., 2003).

Propagation:  "The grass is a prolific seed producer, and the seeds are dispersed by wind"  (Weber, 2003; p. 201).

Native range:  Europe (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1551).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1551)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1551)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1551) East Maui.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L./Meidell, J. Scott/Bartlett, R. T. (1999) (p. 10) West Maui. Voucher cited: Oppenheimer H79810 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1551)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1551)
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Kermadec Islands	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 315) "Roadsides, waste land, pasture and grassland, along tracks or streams in forest, often in damp or swampy ground; sea level to montane, rarely subalpine".
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Raoul Island	introduced invasive	Sykes, W. R. (1977) (p. 168)

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. (2011)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 83)
China China	China (People's Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. plate)
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 183)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 83)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. plate)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 192)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 315) "Roadsides, waste land, pasture and grassland, along tracks or streams in forest, often in damp or swampy ground; sea level to montane, rarely 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) "Naturalisé/±envahissant"
Mascarene Islands Mascarene Islands (Mauritius, La Reunion, Rodrigues)	Mascarene Islands	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Control:  Additional control information from the Bugwood Wiki.

Physical:  Intensive mowing or grazing suppresses the establishment and spread of this grass"  (Weber, 2003; p. 201).

Chemical: "Susceptible to foliar application of glyphosate at 1-1.5% product (Hank Oppenheimer, Maui Pine)" (Motooka et al., 2003).  "Effective herbicides are atrazine or diuron"  (Weber, 2003; p. 201).

Additional information:
Information from the Bugwood Wiki.
Excerpt from the book "Weeds of Hawaii‘s Pastures and Natural Areas; An Identification and Management Guide" (Motooka et al., 2003). (PDF format).

Additional online information about Holcus lanatus is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

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

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

References:

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). .

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.

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.

Motooka, Philip/Castro, Luisa/Nelson, Duane/Nagai, Guy/Ching, Lincoln. 2003. Weeds of Hawaii‘s Pastures and Natural Areas; An Identification and Management Guide. College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa. 184 pp.

Motooka, Philip/Ching, Lincoln/Nagai, Guy. 2002. Herbicidal Weed Control Methods for Pasture and Natural Areas of Hawaii. Cooperative Extension Service, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawai‘i. CTAHR free publication WC-8.

Oppenheimer, Hank L./Meidell, J. Scott/Bartlett, R. T. 1999. New plant records for Maui and Moloka‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1998. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 59:7-11.

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

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

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