Common Wheat Grass

Common Wheat Grass

Common Wheat Grass

Elymus scaber var. scaber

Short-lived perennial. A food source for butterflies and high forage value for stock. Grows commonly but sparsely in grasslands and woodlands.

Details Description
Type
Graminoid
Group
Grass
Identifying Characteristics

Open, tufted grass with slender stems to 1 m tall. Leaves green to bluish-green, rough on the upper surface, sometimes hairy, tapering to a fine point. The leaf sheath has sickle-like appendages at the top of the sheath. Flowers July-December.
Distinctive Features

The awns (bristles on seeds) are up to 50 cm long and curl outwards as the flower heads mature.
Life Form Group
Graminoid
Life Form Codes
Medium to Small Tufted Graminoid (MTG)
EVC types
EVC 132_61: Heavier-soils Plains Grassland
EVC 132_62: Lighter-soils Plains Grassland
EVC 55_61: Plains Grassy Woodland
Native Status
Native to Australia
Taxonomy
Phylum
Charophyta
Class
Equisetopsida
Order
Poales
Family
Poaceae
Genus
Elymus
Species
scaber var. scaber
Common Wheat Grass
Widespread in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.

Distribution maps indicate current and historic locations where species have been sighted.

Source: Atlas of Living Australia

Endangered Status
DEPI Advisory List
Not listed
FFG Act
Not listed
EPBC Act
Not listed

The conservation status of species is listed within Victoria and Australia.

The Department of Environment and Primary Industry (DEPI) Advisory List consists of non-statutory advisory lists of rare or threatened flora and fauna within Victoria.

The Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (FFG Act) lists threatened species in Victoria. Under the Act, an Action Statement is produced for each listed species.

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) is the Australian Government’s key piece of environmental legislation, listing nationally threatened native species and ecological communities.