Family: Poaceae

Status: pasture grass

Description:
A tussock grass, with a spreading open shape. Leaves are bright green, folded in bud and flat and about 1cm wide when mature. Long stems bear nodding seed heads which produce sticky disc shaped seeds.

Preferred habitat and impacts:
Grows in wet areas in pasture where it can be of some value as fodder in summer. Also on wetter parts of road verges. A major weed of wetland edges and wet native grasslands. Most of the "wet meadows" which must once have been common on the south coast have been destroyed by invasion of paspalum, Yorkshire fog and other moisture-loving exotic grasses.

Dispersal:
Seed is spread by sticking to animals, clothing, machinery and vehicles, and in water. The basal parts of the tussock may be broken up and spread in earth-moving or cultivation.

Look-alikes:
There is a larger version of paspalum, Vasey grass (Paspalum urvillei) which has similar seed heads, on a taller erect plant. It is often found in drier sites, particularly along track edges in bush. It is also a weed. There are some natives in the genus Paspalum, but none found on the south coast look very much like the weedy species.

Control:
Heavy grazing early in the season can reduce seed set, but putting stock in after the plants have begun seeding will only spread the seed.
Paspalum could be treated with herbicides, but the question of what would replace it needs to be considered. In already degraded wet sites, the plants most likely to respond to removal of paspalum are a whole suite of weeds which also appreciate the permanent moisture and high fertility of these sites. Isolated early invaders can be dug out or spot sprayed, and the seed heads removed for safe disposal.