Vulpia myuros (L.) C.C.Gmel., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Festuca myuros L.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: annual fescue, foxtail fescue, rat tail fescue, silvergrass, six weeks grass

French: vulpie queue-de-rat

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Annuals; culms solitary or several and loosely tufted, erect or ascending from a decumbent base, 1.5-5 (-7) dm tall, lower nodes geniculate, glabrous.  Sheaths glabrous; ligule erose-ciliate, 0.2-0.6 mm long, usually longer on the sides; blades filiform or linear, involute, upper surface scabrous, lower surface glabrous.  Panicles usually secund, narrow, (4-) 5-18 (-20) cm long, with ascending or appressed branches, the lower branches often widely spaced and enclosed in the upper sheath; spikelets 3-5-(-8)-flowered; glumes thin, strongly unequal, glabrous, first glume sometimes scale-like, 0.3-1.5 mm long, 1-nerved, second glume lanceolate, 2.5-5.5 mm long, 1-3-nerved; lemmas linear-lanceolate, 4.7-7.5 mm long, scabrous to puberulent, ± long-ciliate toward apex, produced into awns 8-15 (-17) mm long.  Caryopsis dark brown, linear, strongly dorsiventrally compressed, ventrally convex, 3.5-4 mm long, coherent to the lemma and palea"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1603).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  "Grass- and woodland, coastal estuaries and dunes, salt marshes.  A highly competitive grass that suppresses native perennial grasses and forbs and prevents their establishment.  Dense swards of this grass displace native vegetation and strongly reduce species richness. The grass is shallow-rooted and well adapted to soils of low fertility"  (Weber, 2003; p. 453).

In Hawai‘i, "naturalized and often common in pastures, grasslands, open sites in diverse mesic forest, and dry, disturbed areas, especially on steep, rocky slopes or exposed hillsides, 580-2,590 m"  (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1603-1604).

Propagation:  Seed. "The short-lived seeds are dispersed mainly by attaching to animals" (Weber, 2003; p. 453).

Native range:  "Europe, now widely naturalized"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1603).

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) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 12) Subsp. megalura (Nutt.) Stace & R.Cotton "An introduced weed". Voucher cited: J.H. Maiden & J.L. Boorman (K)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1603-1604)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1603-1604)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1603-1604)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1603-1604)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1603-1604)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1603-1604)
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Kermadec Islands	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 209) "Waste land, shingly river flats, and in rough pasture; sea level to montane".
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Midway Atoll	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1603-1604)

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. (2009)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 136)
China China	China (People's Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 136)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 209) "Waste land, shingly river flats, and in rough pasture; sea level to montane".

Control: 

Physical:  "A combination of spring and autumn grazing can reduce the density of the grass".

Chemical:  "Spraying glyphosate during flowering prevents seed set.  Other effective herbicides are simizine applied in autumn, propyzamide or dalapon"  (Weber, 2003; p. 453).

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

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

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

Other Latin names:  Festuca myuros L.

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.

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

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).

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