Elytrigia pycnantha
Common names
sea couch
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Grasses
Detailed description
Bluish grey, tufted, rigid perennial grass to about 125 cm tall. Can form large patches from strongly spreading wiry rhiozomes. Leaves glaucous , up to 25 cm long, usually rolled, occasionally flat and up to 7 mm wide, greyish to light brown, held on erect culms 25–75 cm tall. Inflorescence an erect spike 5–20 cm tall with spikelets very close-set.
Similar taxa
Can be separated from E. repens (couch) by the tightly inrolled leaves, and leaves that are rough to the touch.
Habitat
Terrestrial. Coastal on foreshore waste land, consolidated sand near dunes, mudflats and roadsides.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Poaceae
Ecology
Year naturalised
1968
Origin
Western and Southern Europe
Reason for introduction
Agricultural
Tolerances
Tolerates salt and very poor soils.
Life cycle and dispersal
Vegetative spread from long running rhizomes. Seed is also produced.
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). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
FACW: Facultative Wetland
Usually is a hydrophyte but occasionally found in uplands (non-wetlands).
Other information
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.
ELYPYC