California Invasive Plant Council

Rytidosperma caespitosum

Common names: wallabygrass

Rytidosperma caespitosum (tufted wallabygrass) is a perennial grass (family Poaceae) that is native to Australia and is found to date in the San Francisco Bay area and San Diego County. Plant grow to nearly 1m as small bunch grasses; leaves and leaf sheathes are very hairy, with hairs erect, especially at leaf blade/sheath axil. Inflorescences are spike-like with florets having typically two rings of erect hairs and twisted awns.  Tufted wallabygrass favors grasslands and dunes. It spreads via seed, often along roadsides. Seeds can be dispersed by wind, humans, and machinery. Both this species and R. penicillatum build up flammable thatch and can spread quickly after fire.

Cal-IPC Rating: Watch

CDFA Rating: None?

Explanation of CDFA ratings

• A – A pest of known economic or environmental detriment and is either not known to be established in California or it is present in a limited distribution that allows for the possibility of eradication or successful containment.
• B – A pest of known economic or environmental detriment and, if present in California, it is of limited distribution.
• C – A pest of known economic or environmental detriment and, if present in California, it is usually widespread.
• D – An organism known to be of little or no economic or environmental detriment, to have an extremely low likelihood of weediness, or is known to be a parasite or predator.
• Q – An organism or disorder suspected to be of economic or environmental detriment, but whose status is uncertain because of incomplete identification or inadequate information.
• * – An asterisk next to the rating indicates that a plant is included in the CCR Section 4500 list of California State Noxious Weeds.
• -* – This plant is included in the CCR Section 4500 list of California State Noxious Weeds, but is otherwise not rated.

More details

Assessment(s)

Rytidosperma caespitosum Plant Risk Assessment - An evaluation of the potential for a plant to be invasive in California.

Species ID Card

Invasive Species ID Card - To support field identification of early detection species, Cal-IPC has designed a set of Species ID cards that can be downloaded, printed double-sided, and trimmed to size.

Weed Management Notes

Cal-IPC Newsletter Articles

There are no newsletter articles associated with this species yet.

Cal-IPC Symposium Presentations

Presentations are linked where available. Where a presentation is not available, find more information by reading the abstract in the Cal-IPC Symposia Archive.

• 2019 Weed Alerts. Burger, Jutta; Price, Bob (2019)

Other Rytidosperma caespitosum Information

• CalPhotos - Images of plants taken mostly in California.
• Calflora - Distribution map and records of this species in California.
• CalWeedMapper - Distribution map of this species in California with ability to determine regional priorities.
• EDDMapS - Distribution of this species in North America.
• Jepson Interchange - Information on this plant's taxonomy, biology, and distribution from UC Berkeley's Jepson Herbarium.
• USDA PLANTS Database - Information on identification and distribution, with links to websites in individual states.

Additional photos