Sporobolus elongatus R.Br., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: rat-tail dropseed, wire grass

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Tufted perennial [grass], with erect glabrous culms up to 90 cm high.  Sheaths glabrous; blades flat or somewhat involute, 10-20 cm long, 3-6 mm wide.  Panicle spikelike, up to 30 cm long or more, dull lead-colored, the lower branches appressed, the upper ones ascending, densely contracted.  Spikelets about 1/32-1/16 in long, densely crowded.  Lower glume 1/4 as long as floret; upper glume 1/2 as long as floret.  Lemma and palea equal.  Seed reddish-brown"  (Stone, 1970; p. 193).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  In Fiji, "from sea level to about 600 m along roadsides and in waste places, on open hillsides, along riverbanks, and in plantations and cultivated fields".  A weed that is difficult to eradicate (Smith, 1979; pp. 308-309).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Australia and Indo-Malesia into Polynesia (Smith, 1979; pp. 308-309).

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	Lakemba Island	native	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (pp. 308-309)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Matuku Island	native	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (pp. 308-309)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Ovalau Island	native	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (pp. 308-309) Vouchers cited: DA 1346, DA 1364
Fiji Fiji Islands	Taveuni Island	native	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (pp. 308-309) Vouchers cited: DA 8894, DA 8915, DA 5737
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island	native	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (pp. 308-309) Vouchers cited: DA 5702, DA 8953
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Mbalavu Island	native	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (pp. 308-309) Voucher cited: DA 10235
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	native	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (pp. 308-309) Vouchers cited: DA 9796, DA 8172, DA 8150, DA 9033, DA 7988, DA 8045, DA 7704
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced invasive	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 193) Voucher cited: Necker 401
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Snow, Neil (2008) (p. 41) Voucher cited: E. J. Funk s.n. (BISH 614547)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. (1998) (p. 36) Present status unknown. Voucher cited: Munro 706 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced	Wester, Lyndon (1992) (p. 123)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Snow, Neil (2008) (p. 41) Voucher cited: B. C. Stone 1234 (BISH)
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 97)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)		Henty, E. E. (1969) (p. 180) Collections identified as this species.
Pitcairn Islands Pitcairn Islands	Pitcairn Island	introduced	St. John, H. (1987) (p. 24) Voucher cited: Fosberg & B. Christian 11179
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Russell (Pavuvu) Island		Burcham, L. T. (1948) (p. 425) Pavuvu Island. Voucher cited: Burcham 187 (US)
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 97)
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands	native	Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. (1988) (p. 110)
Vanuatu New Hebrides Islands	Vanuatu (Republic of)		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 97)

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)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 532) "Rough pasture and on roadside".

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

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

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

References:

Burcham, L. T. 1948. Observations on the grass flora of certain Pacific islands. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 30(2):405-447.

Edgar, E./Connor, H. 2000. Flora of New Zealand, vol. V: Gramineae. Manaaki Whenua Press. .

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

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.

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.

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

Snow, Neil. 2008. Notes on grasses (Poaceae) in Hawai‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2007. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 100:38-43.

St. John, H. 1987. An account of the flora of Pitcairn Island with new Pandanus species. Pacific Plant Studies 46. Honolulu, 65 pp. [Privately published].

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

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. 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).

Wester, Lyndon. 1992. Origin and distribution of adventive flowering plants in Hawai‘i. In: Stone, Charles P.; Smith, Clifford W. and Tunison, J. Timothy. Alien plant invasions in native ecosystems of Hawaii: Management and Research. University of Hawaii, Cooperative National Park Research Studies Unit, Honolulu. University of Hawaii Press. .