Family: Poaceae

Status:

Description:
A tufted grass, usually around 30-50cm high with very distinctive white fluffy seed heads.

Preferred habitat and impacts:
Grows in pasture and on road verges, tolerating a range of conditions including dry infertile soils. Mature plants are unpalatable to stock, so the plant can become more common in over-grazed pasture.
A weed of remnant grassy native vegetation in farming areas, where it can suppress native groundcover species.

Dispersal:
The seed is spread along roads in mud on machinery and vehicles, and can adhere to animals and clothing. Wind and water may also spread seed. Individual clumps gradually expand by underground rhizomes. The seed heads may be picked for dried flower arrangements, then discarded. The plant is sometimes sold as a garden ornamental.

Look-alikes:
The very fluffy seed heads with numerous long bristles protruding all round are distinctive. Some native wallaby grasses (Austrodanthonia and Notodanthonia species) can have fluffy looking seed heads when seed is mature, but they are much less fluffy than those of Feathertop grass.

Control:
Isolated plants should be removed before they seed, or if they have already begun to produce seed, then bagged for careful disposal. Spot spraying with grass selective herbicides could also be used.