Melinis P.Beauv.

2 species naturalized Aust.; Qld, NSW, Vic., WA

*Melinis repens (Willd.) Zizka

Spikelets with 1 bisexual floret and a sterile lemma below it, pedicellate, solitary, disarticulating below the glumes. Lower glume c. 1 mm long, hairy. Upper glume and sterile lemma equal, 5 mm long, purplish red, covered with long hairs, shortly awned, completely enclosing the bisexual floret. Panicle open, 7–15 cm long. Leaf blade flat, 2–5 mm wide. Tufted, short-lived perennial or annual up to 1 m high. Roadsides; weed. Introd. from S. Africa. Fl. summer. Natal Red Grass or Natal Red Top