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Graminae
Common names
Hymenachne (North Australia).
Description
Tall, stoloniferous perennial, culms to 2 m; panicles narrow
15 cm long (Henty, 1969).
Distribution
Northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, Assam, Burma, Malaysia,
Viet Nam and Polynesia.
Season of growth
Perennial in the tropics.
Rainfall requirements
It is a swamp grass, more or less independent of rainfall.
Drought tolerance
It generally escapes drought because of the high soil moisture
in its usual habitat, unless the drought is very prolonged.
Soil requirements
It generally grows on heavy clays.
Sowing methods
It is propagated by stolons.
Response to defoliation
It stands grazing well, but very heavy grazing by feral pigs
and buffaloes in northern Australia leads to a reduction in density (Sturtz,
Harrison & Falvey, 1975).
Palatability
It is very palatable.
Natural habitat
In shallow water at the margins of swamps and slow rivers in
the tropics of Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Tolerance to flooding
It survives floods well and is aquatic in nature.
Economics
It is an important grazing plant for swamp buffaloes in the
Northern Territory, Australia. The buffaloes will submerge and graze it
from below.
Animal production
The H. acutigluma plains are ideal for the swamp buffalo and
live-weight gains of 0.27-0.31 kg per day have been recorded. Reproductive
performance of buffalo is superior to that of cattle, with calving rates
of 85 percent, compared with 50 percent for Brahman cross cattle (Graham,
personal communication).
Tolerance to salinity
It grows in fresh water swamps.
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