Cynodon dactylon
Common name
Bermuda grass
Family
Poaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Grasses
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.
CYNDAC
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Terrestrial.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland).
FACU: Facultative Upland
Occasionally is a hydrophyte but usually occurs in uplands (non-wetlands).
Features
Mat-forming grass to 55 cm tall, with long rhizomes and stolons. Leaf blades up to 9cm long, 1-3mm wide (sometimes wider), grey-green, slightly hairy. Leaves are held on upright culm to 50cm tall. The flower head has 3-7 branches coming out of the same point, each branch is up to 6cm long, and has 2 rows of green or purplish spikelets.
Similar taxa
Creeping stems, branched (digitate) flower heads. Similar inflorescence to Digitaria species, but the foliage on Cynodon dactylon is more robust and stiff.
Year naturalised
1846
Origin
Pantropical
Reason For Introduction
Agricultural
Life Cycle Comments
Perennial