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Aristida contorta
Also called Bunched Kerosene Grass, Kerosene Grass, Sand Wire Grass
Aristida contorta, commonly known as bunched kerosene grass, kerosene grass, bunched windgrass, silvergrass, mulga grass, sand speargrass, and medicine grass, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae that is native in Australia. The Walmajarri name for this species is Ngirrirli.
It is present throughout most of mainland Australia where it can grow in red, white or yellow sand, red or brown clay or loamy soils. The grass is adapted to survive in the most arid areas of Australia and is prevalent in most arid and semi-arid localities. It is often associated with Eucalyptus and Acacia aneura woodland communities.
The grass, when dominant, is an indicator of poor pasture. It is a normal part of grassland pastures and can be grazed by cattle and sheep along with other more-palatable species, but is mostly considered to be undesirable. The proportion of the plant in grazing areas tends to increase over time as it has low palatability. Although it has low forage value it has some moisture retaining capacity and is able to grow quickly.
Aristida acuta · Sixweeks threeawn · Aristida anaclasta · Aristida arida · Forked threeawn · Brush Spear Grass · Bentham's Aristida · California threeawn · Dark Wire Grass · Aristida capillacea · Chase's threeawn · Spreading Prickle Grass
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Aristida contorta by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
