Microlaena stipoides (Labill.) R.Br., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Ehrharta stipoides Labill.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: meadow ricegrass, weeping grass

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Slender rhizomatous perennials; culms ascending or erect, usually decumbent at base, 30-75 cm tall, glabrous.  Sheaths 2-6 cm long, shorter than internodes, glabrous or retrorsely scabrous; ligule membranous, 0.2-0.5 mm long, margins erose; blades flat, 3-8 (-14) cm long, 2-3 mm wide, glabrous or scaberulous, margins scabrous.  Inflorescences paniculate, suberect to nodding, (4-) 10-19 cm long, narrow, usually unbranched; spikelets widely spaced, paired or solitary, chasmogamous or cleistogamous, appressed along the slender axis, each one ca 10 mm long (excluding awns), pedicels 1-2 mm long, rachilla somewhat elongate above glumes and between sterile lemmas; glumes membranous, nerveless, first glume 0.2-0.5 mm long, apex acute, second glume 0.5-0.7 mm long, apex acute or bifid; sterile lemma similar to glumes, coriaceous, obscurely 5-nerved, the nerves scaberulous, margins membranous, apex with a scabrous awn 8-12 mm long, callus conspicuous, appressed silky pilose, the hairs ca 1 mm long; fertile lemma 5-6 mm long, enclosed within margins of uppermost sterile lemma, obscurely 7-nerved, somewhat keeled, scabrous on upper part of keel, apex apiculate, palea membranous, narrow, linear, shorter than lemma, 1-nerved, keeled, the keel sparsely ciliate, margins hyaline.  Caryopsis yellow, narrow, somewhat compressed, 5-6 mm long"  (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1536, 1908).

Description from World Grass Species.

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in openings in wet forest and other moist, shaded sites, 20-1,400 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1536).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, New Guinea and the Philippines.

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) Lord Howe Island	Lord Howe Island	native	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 22) Voucher cited: H.T. Clifford s.n. (NSW)
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	native	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 12) Vouchers cited: F.C. Allen 55 (CHR, K); 1902, J.H. Maiden & J.L. Boorman (NSW)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1536) Voucher cited: Hitchcock 14465 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaho‘olawe Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. (1998) (p. 25) Voucher cited: Ellshoff 196 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (p. 45) Vouchers cited: T. Flynn 683 (PTBG), W.L. Wagner et al. 4944 (BISH, US), T. Flynn 1093 (BISH, PTBG) Naturalized at higher elevations.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1536)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wydong, Michael/Hughes, Guy/Wood, K. R. (2007) (p. 6) Voucher cited: Hughes 1132 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1536)
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Raoul Island	native	Sykes, W. R. (1977) (p. 171)
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Raoul Island	native	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 51) "Open lowland forest and manuka-kanuka scrub, ruderal and in rough pasture; sea level to 1300 m".
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. (2007)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)

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. (2007)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	native	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 51) "Open lowland forest and manuka-kanuka scrub, ruderal and in rough pasture; sea level to 1300 m".

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"

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

Taxonomic information about Microlaena stipoides 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. .

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.

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.

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.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. 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).

Wydong, Michael/Hughes, Guy/Wood, K. R. 2007. New Hawaiian plant records for the island of Moloka‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2006. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 96:1-8.