Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae . They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn , in meadows , grasslands , and prairies. As perennial plants , most species live more than one season. Tussock grasses are often found as forage in pastures and ornamental grasses in gardens.
14-515: Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus , commonly known as buttongrass , is a species of tussock -forming sedge from southeastern Australia. It forms part of a unique habitat in Tasmania. It was originally described as Chaetospora sphaerocephala by Scottish botanist Robert Brown in his 1810 work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen , before being given its current binomial name in 1858 by Joseph Dalton Hooker . G. sphaerocephalus
28-406: A fire's spreading. Scrubland Shrubland , scrubland , scrub , brush , or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs , often also including grasses , herbs , and geophytes . Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It may be the mature vegetation type in a particular region and remain stable over time, or
42-464: A shrub is defined as a much-branched woody plant less than 8 m high and usually with many stems . Tall shrubs are mostly 2–8 m high, small shrubs 1–2 m high and subshrubs less than 1 m high. There is a descriptive system widely adopted in Australia to describe different types of vegetation is based on structural characteristics based on plant life-form , plus the height and foliage cover of
56-476: A transitional community that occurs temporarily as the result of a disturbance, such as fire. A stable state may be maintained by regular natural disturbance such as fire or browsing . Shrubland may be unsuitable for human habitation because of the danger of fire. The term was coined in 1903. Shrubland species generally show a wide range of adaptations to fire, such as heavy seed production, lignotubers , and fire-induced germination. In botany and ecology
70-416: Is a perennial sedge species which forms a clump or tussock. The leaf blades reach 50 cm (20 in) in length, and 0.10–0.25 cm (0.04–0.1 in) in width. The round flowerheads arise out of the tussock, on culms which are up to 1 m (3 ft) high. They are around 1.5–2.0 cm (0.6–0.8 in) in diameter and made up of flattened spikelets 0.5 cm (0.2 in) long. Its root system
84-548: Is a mass of fleshy carbohydrate -rich rhizomes , which are edible. In New South Wales it is found from Gibraltar Range (and Myall Lakes on the coast) south to Robertson . In Victoria the plant is known from at least two locations, one to the east of Melbourne in the Beenak State Forest, and the other location being on the eastern side of the Grampians National Park in western Victoria. It
98-424: Is much more abundant and widespread in Tasmania, where it is common in the western part of the state. G. sphaerocephalus grows in damp nutrient-poor soils, and in Tasmania forms a low grassland or moor in which it is the dominant shrub. Associated primitive plants include club mosses such as Lycopodiella lateralis , and Selaginella uliginosa and the ferns Gleichenia dicarpa and G. alpina . Despite
112-478: Is the mature vegetation type, and in other places, the result of degradation of former forest or woodland by logging or overgrazing , or disturbance by major fires. A number of World Wildlife Fund biomes are characterized as shrublands, including: Xeric or desert scrublands occur in the world's deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregions or in fast-draining sandy soils in more humid regions. These scrublands are characterized by plants with adaptations to
126-492: The dry climate, which include small leaves to limit water loss, thorns to protect them from grazing animals, succulent leaves or stems, storage organs to store water, and long taproots to reach groundwater. Mediterranean scrublands occur naturally in the Mediterranean scrub biome , located in the five Mediterranean climate regions of the world. Scrublands are most common near the seacoast and have often adapted to
140-411: The soil with its burrows and in turn feeds on the rhizomes. It is also a food item of the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot , which breeds in buttongrass moorlands of southwestern Tasmania over the summer. This Cyperaceae article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tussock (grass) Many species have long roots that may reach 2 meters (6.6 ft) or more into
154-987: The soil, which can aid slope stabilization, erosion control , and soil porosity for precipitation absorption. Also, their roots can reach moisture more deeply than other grasses and annual plants during seasonal or climatic droughts. The plants provide habitat and food for insects (including Lepidoptera ), birds, small animals and larger herbivores , and support beneficial soil mycorrhiza . The leaves supply material, such as for basket weaving , for indigenous peoples and contemporary artists . Tussock and bunch grasses occur in almost any habitat where other grasses are found, including: grasslands , savannas and prairies , wetlands and estuaries , riparian zones , shrublands and scrublands , woodlands and forests , montane and alpine zones, tundra and dunes , and deserts . In western North American wildfires , bunch grasses tend to smolder and not ignite into flames, unlike invasive species of annual grasses that contribute to
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#1732771845460168-472: The tallest stratum or dominant species . For shrubs that are 2–8 metres (6.6–26.2 ft) high, the following structural forms are categorized: For shrubs less than 2 metres (6.6 ft) high, the following structural forms are categorized: Similarly, shrubland is a category used to describe a type of biome plant group. In this context, shrublands are dense thickets of evergreen sclerophyll shrubs and small trees, called: In some places, shrubland
182-419: The wet climate, buttongrass is relatively flammable and the ecological community is adapted to regular burning. The leaves of G. sphaerocephalus have the lowest recorded phosphorus content of any plant species. The soil it grows in is a peat which is acidic, with a pH of 3.5 to 4.5. Buttongrass may form a symbiotic relationship with a species of burrowing crayfish Parastacoides tasmanicus , which aerates
196-1008: The wind and salt air of the ocean. Low, soft-leaved scrublands around the Mediterranean Basin are known as garrigue in France , phrygana in Greece , tomillares in Spain , and batha in Israel . Northern coastal scrub and coastal sage scrub occur along the California coast, strandveld in the Western Cape of South Africa , coastal matorral in central Chile , and sand-heath and kwongan in Southwest Australia . Interior scrublands occur naturally in semi-arid areas where soils are nutrient-poor, such as on
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