Polypogon monspeliensis (L.) Desf., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 18 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: chang mang bang tou cao

English: annual beardgrass, beard grass, Montpelier beardgrass, rabbitfoot beardgrass, rabbitfoot grass, rabbitfoot polypogon

French: polypogon de Montpellier

Spanish: pajilla, rabo de zorro

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Annuals; culms tufted, often decumbent at base and rooting at nodes, 0.3-4 (-8) dm tall.  Sheaths smooth to scaberulous; ligule 2-6 (-12) mm long, puberulent, apex acute, lacerate, lateral margins splitting into auricle-like segments; blades usually flat, 1.5-5 (-12) mm wide, glabrous to scaberulous.  Panicles 1-6.5 (-10) cm long, compact, branches short, appressed to ascending; glumes subequal, narrowly elliptic, 1.5-2.5 mm long, keel and margins scabrous to hispidulous, especially toward base, awned from between rounded lobes of a bifid apex, the awn (4-) 4.5-9.5 (-10) mm long; lemma ca. 1/2 the length of the glumes, 0.7-1.2 mm long, ovate, smooth and glossy, apex minutely bifid, awn absent or very short and straight; palea nearly as long as lemma.  Caryopsis pale brown, fusiform to narrowly ovoid, 0.8-1 mm long"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1586).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  "Riparian habitats, freshwater wetlands, coastal marshes.  Where native, this grass is found mainly near the coast at the edges of salt marshes, other damp sites, and in disturbed sites.  It is invasive because it forms dense swards that crowd out native plants and prevent their regeneration"  (Weber, 2003; p. 341).

In Hawai‘i, "naturalized and common in mesic to wet sites such as roadside drainages, wet pastures, and along streams, 0-1,220 m"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1586).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Europe (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1586).

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	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 23) Vouchers cited: A.C. Beauglehole 5441 (CANB, MEL), A.C. Beauglehole 5442 (CANB, MEL), P.S. Green 2327 (K, NSW)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1586) Voucher cited: Rock 4189 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1586)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1586)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1586)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	introduced invasive cultivated	Henty, E. E. (1969) (p. 162) Roadside; presumable introduced in pasture seed.
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Midway Atoll	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1586)

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 invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 123)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 345) In wet place.
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 123)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 288) "Usually coastal, on mud flats, salt marsh, lagoon or swamp margins, damp sand flats and sand dunes, roadsides, waste ground, coastal rocks and cliff edges; inland in moist ground along ditches or creeks or on river terraces".

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Mascarene Islands Mascarene Islands (Mauritius, La Reunion, Rodrigues)	Mascarene Islands	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 290)

Control:  "Specific control methods for this species are not available.  Scattered plants can be hand pulled or cut, larger populations treated with herbicide"  (Weber, 2003; p. 341).

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

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

Taxonomic information about Polypogon monspeliensis 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.

Henty, E. E. 1969. A manual of the grasses of New Guinea. Department of Forests, Division of Botany, Botany Bull. No. 1. Lae, New Guinea. 215 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.

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

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

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.

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).