View source for Phil Bendle Collection:Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda grass)

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'''Kingdom:''' Plantae<br />
'''(unranked):''' Angiosperms<br />
'''(unranked):''' Commelinids<br />
'''Order:''' Poales<br />
'''Family:''' Poaceae<br />
'''Genus:''' Cynodon<br />
'''Species''': C. dactylon<br />
'''Binomial name:''' Cynodon dactylon<br />
'''Synonyms:''' Capriola dactylon, Cynodon aristiglumis<br />
'''Common names''': Bermuda grass, Dubo, Dog's tooth grass, Bahama grass, Devil's grass, Couch grass, Indian doab, Arugampul, Grama, Wiregrass, Scutch grass, Vilfa stellata. Dūrvā grass, Australian couch

Cynodon dactylon is a long-lived, very fast growing species of grass, that probably originated in sub-Saharan Africa and/or on islands in the western parts of the Indian Ocean. Although it is commonly called Bermuda grass is not native to Bermuda though it is an abundant invasive species there. <br />
Cynodon dactylon is a weed in virtually every tropical and subtropical country and in virtually every crop in those countries. <br />
In New Zealand, it is a potential agricultural weed and is commonly used as a holiday lawn grass as it goes dormant over the winter months. It will survive both extended dry periods and flooding conditions.

The reproduction of weeds is normally by seeds or spores, but some weeds can also reproduce by vegetative means which involve specialised or modified portions of the plant body. Cynodon dactylon can be very troublesome because like Kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) it has an above ground rooting stems (stolons which creep along the ground and roots wherever a node touches the ground thus forming a dense mat.

Cynodon dactylon leaf blades are flattened and have a sharp tip. They can be hairy or glabrous (hairless) and are usually 2–15 cm long and have rough edges. The leaf sheath is round and glabrous; the ligule (membranous small structure at the junction of the leaf sheath and leaf blade) has a ring of hairs or a short membrane.<br />
Its flowering culms (flowering stems) can grow 1–30 cm tall. They are slightly flattened, often tinged purple in colour. These flowering stems end in a whorl of 3-7 branches together at the top of the stem, each spike is &gt;60 mm long and they radiate out from a terminal axis. The spikelets are stalkless and without an awn. Flowering time is from March to September.

[http://www.terrain.net.nz/uploads/images/Te%20Henui/%20Weeds/1-Cynodon_dactylon.jpg]

The radiating flowering seed heads.<br />
[http://ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info/image_files/0000/0011/6528/1-Cynodon_dactylon__Bermuda_grass-001.JPG]

Closeup of a flowering seed spike<br />
[http://ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info/image_files/0000/0011/6533/1-Cynodon_dactylon__Bermuda_grass-002.JPG]

[http://www.terrain.net.nz/uploads/images/Te%20Henui/%20Weeds/1-Cynodon%20dactylon,%20Bermuda%20grass-010.jpg]<br />


Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/








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[[Category:Weeds]]
[[Category:Phil Bendle Collection]]