Themeda arguens

Botanical Description

Themeda arguens is an annual to short-lived perennial, clump-forming grass with erect culms around 20 - 200cm tall The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine. Themeda arguens is a fast growing and very aggressive grass. At present, this species has been listed as invasive in Jamaica and Fiji, and it is spreading across these islands displacing and outcompeting native grasses and herbs. In areas invaded by this grass, livestock tend to avoid it for more palatable species resulting in it becoming dominant over other low growing species. In addition, the plant seeds heavily and seeds can be easily dispersed by wind, vehicles, animals, and attached to clothes and mud. The practice of using dry grass stems as packing for provisions being carried to market is another common cause for the introduction and spread of this species[ 1093 Title Invasive Species Compendium Publication Author Website http://www.cabi.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An immense resource - in depth information on over 900 species of invasive plants (it also has information on animals, fungi etc). ].