| Rytidosperma caespitosum | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Genus: | Rytidosperma |
| Species: | R. caespitosum
|
| Binomial name | |
| Rytidosperma caespitosum | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Rytidosperma caespitosum, known by various common names including common wallaby-grass, ringed wallaby-grass, and white-top, is a species of grass native to southern parts of Australia.
It is a tufted perennial grass that reaches up to 90 centimetres high. Glumes are green with or without purple, and occur in a panicle of from 10 to 30 spikelets, each of which contains from four to nine individual flowers.[2][3]
It was first collected from Shark Bay in Western Australia by Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré, botanist to the expedition of Louis de Freycinet. It was published by Gaudichaud-Beaupré in 1829 under the name Danthonia caespitosa. During the 1960s and 1970s it was transferred firstly by Zotov into Notodanthonia and then by Connor & Edgar into Rytidosperma. In 1993 it was transferred into Austrodanthonia by Hans Peter Linder.[4] However, in 2010 Austrodanthonia was again submerged into a broader Rytidosperma, and all Austrodanthonia species are now considered part of the genus Rytidosperma.[5][6]
It occurs throughout the wetter, cooler parts of southern Australia, through to hot, arid land such as Shark Bay. Its many forms span diverse habitats, variously tolerating a range of salinity and soils, including sands, loams, limestone, granite and laterite.[2][3] It is considered one of the main native pasture grasses in southern Australia[7]
Flowering occurs in spring or summer, usually in response to rain.[3]
