Species

Ehrharta villosa

Etymology

villosa: from Latin (villus) meaning shaggy or hairy.

Common Name(s)

pyp grass

Authority

Ehrharta villosa (L.f.) Schult. et Schult.f.

Family

Poaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

EHRVIL

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.

Structural Class

Grasses

Habitat

Terrestrial. Short tussockland, herbfield, bare land, wetland, mainly on coastline, sand dunes.

Features

Strongly rhizomatous perennial grass to 1.5 m tall. Stems cane-like, erect. Leaves short, rolled. Seedhead a slender panicle, 10-20 cm long. Seeds purplish, Spring-Summer.

Similar Taxa

It is the only strongly rhizomatous Ehrharta species in New Zealand.

Flowering

October, November, December, January

Year Naturalised

1990

Origin

Sth Africa

Reason For Introduction
Agricultural

Life Cycle Comments
Perennial.

References

View MAF - BNZ Species page

This page last updated on 12 Aug 2010