Calamagrostis arenaria
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
marram grass
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Grasses
Flower colours
Green, Yellow
Detailed description
Stout rhizomatous perennial grass forming compact tufts, 1 m+ tall. Rhizomes tough, creeping long distances in loose sand. Leaves to 700 × 3–6 mm, greyish-green, tips sharp, reddish-brown sheaths overlapping; blades tightly rolled (appear cylindrical) in exposed conditions, loosely rolled in shade; densely hairy ribs above, striped below, narrow ligule 25 mm long. Seedhead a dense spike, whitish, to 30 cm long.
Similar taxa
Leymus racemosus is more robust, foliage less bluish. Poa billardierei native sand tussock can be confused with small marram plants.
Habitat
Terrestrial. Coastal plant, usually occurs on sand dunes; can occur in inland sites with low fertility.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
Ammophila arenaria
Ecology
Flowering
November, December, January, February, March
Fruiting
Unknown
Year naturalised
1873
Origin
Europe, North Africa
Reason for introduction
Agricultural (to stabilise sand dunes which had mobilised once native vegetation had been removed).
Tolerances
Highly tolerant to drought and is virtually unpalatable to grazing stock. Intolerant of shade.
Life cycle and dispersal
Perennial. Can spread large distances via seed. Low amounts of seed are produced. Seed viability is low, with no contribution to the seed bank. Vegetative reproduction occurs rapidly through extensive rhizomatic growth. The plant achieves this by trapping sand and growing through it, changing how natural sand dunes are formed, in contrast to native pīngao (Ficinia spiralis) which holds and releases sand more readily to resupply beaches. Seed is dispersed by wind. Direct spread from extending rhizomes, seed and rhizome fragments spread by wind and water, deliberate planting by people for sand dune stabilisation.
Propagation technique
Rooted pieces of rhizome.
Other information
Etymology
calamagrostis: After Kalamos, a Greek mythical figure who was turned into a reed, and agrostis, a Greek word for ‘grass’ from agrotes ‘of the field’.
arenaria: Sand dweller
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
AMMARE
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Peterson, P.M.; Soreng, R.J.; Romaschenko, K.; Barberá, P.; Quintanar, A.; Aedo, C.; Saarela, J.M. 2022: Phylogeny and biogeography of Calamagrostis (Poaceae: Pooideae: Poeae: Agrostidinae), description of a new genus, Condilorachia (Calothecinae), and expansion of Greeneochloa and Pentapogon (Echinopogoninae). Journal of Systematics and Evolution 60(3): 570–590. (Published online: May 2022)
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: Ogle, C. (Year at time of access): Calamagrostis arenaria Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/calamagrostis-arenaria/ (Date website was queried)