Species profile—Sporobolus pamelae
Classification
Plantae (plants) → Equisetopsida (land plants) → Poaceae (grass) → Sporobolus pamelae
Sighting data
Species details
- Kingdom
- Plantae (plants)
- Class
- Equisetopsida (land plants)
- Family
- Poaceae (grass)
- Scientific name
- Sporobolus pamelae B.K.Simon
- WildNet taxon ID
- 8084
- Alternate name(s)
- rats tail grass
- Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NCA) status
- Endangered
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC) status
- Endangered
- Conservation significant
- Yes
- Confidential
- No
- Endemicity
- Native
- Pest status
- Nil
- Short Notes
- Holotype two sheets
- Description
- Sporobolus pamelae is an erect, perennial, tufted grass 80 to 120 cm high. The basal leaf sheath margins are glabrous; the ligule is a fringe of hairs to 0.5mm long; the blade margins are involute (rolled inwards), filiform, 14 to 35 cm long by 1 to 1.5 mm wide, with smooth margins. The inflorescence is paniculate (much branched), irregular, open, 3 to 40 cm long; the primary branches are solitary, equalling or much longer than the adjacent internodes, spreading or divaricate, without spikelets in the lower quarter, with the spikelets loosely spaced and fairly even. The spikelets are pedicellate, 2.5 to 3 mm long; the pedicel is 4 to 12 mm long. The glumes are oblong; lower glume to 1.5mm long, acute, without nerves; the upper glume at least half spikelet length, to 2 mm long. The lemma is linear or lanceolate, 2.5 to 3 mm long, truncate, obscurely 3-nerved. The palea is subequal to lemma, and is entire. There are 3 anthers to 2 mm long. The grain is oblong, quadrangular, 1.3 to 1.8 mm long, to 0.8 mm wide to 0.6 mm thick, wrinkled, pale brown. Embryo half as long as the grain.
Sporobolus pamelae is a distinctive grass with very open panicles and inflorescence branches not whorled. It is very unlike any other Australian species of Sporobolus (Simon, 2005). - Map
- View Map
- Distribution
- Sporobolus pamelae is known from a number of mound springs of the Queensland artesian basin. The species forms conspicuous stands (Simon, 1993). Sporobolus pamelae occurs within Dead Sea Springs Nature Refuge and Doongmabulla Mound Springs Nature Refuge (Queensland Herbarium, 2012).
- Distributional limits
- -22.0934473, 144.769528
-27.9520684, 146.2439066 - Range derivation
- Range derived from extent of the taxon's verified records
- Habitat
- Sporobolus pamelae is only found at mound springs, it is the dominant species amongst the accompanying vegetation at these springs (Queensland Herbarium, 2011).
- Reproduction
- Flowers November to April (Simon, 1993).
- Status notes
- Listed as Endangered under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992
- Notes
- Occurs in the following Queensland pastoral districts: Mitchell, South Kennedy.
- References
- Queensland Herbarium (2012). Specimen label information. Queensland Herbarium. Accessed 11/01/2012.
Simon, B.K. (1993). Studies in Australian grasses, 7. Four new species of Sporobolus R.Br. (Poaceae, Chloridoideae, Sporoboleae) from Australia. Austrobaileya 4 (1): 61.
Simon, B.K. in Mallett, K. (Ed) (2005). Flora of Australia 44B: 341. - Profile author
- Ronald Booth (22/03/2012)
Other resources
- Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT)
- The Australasian Virtual Herbarium (AVH)
- Atlas of Living Australia
Data source
This profile data is sourced from the QLD Wildlife Data API using the Get species by ID function used under CC-By 4.0.
https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species/?op=getspeciesbyid&taxonid=8084.
This information is sourced from the WildNet database managed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.
