Chrysopogon aciculatus (golden false beardgrass)

Identity

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Preferred Scientific Name

Chrysopogon aciculatus (Retz.) Trin.

Preferred Common Name

golden false beardgrass

Other Scientific Names

Andropogon aciculata Retz.
Rhaphis aciculatus (Retz.) Honda

International Common Names

English: lovegrass

Local Common Names

Malaysia: rumput jarum; temuchut
Philippines: tinloi

EPPO code

CYSAC (Chrysopogon aciculatus)

Summary of Invasiveness

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C. aciculatus is a widespread grass with nuisance value but limited capacity for widespread invasion. It is listed as a noxious weed in Florida, USA (USDA-ARS, 2003).

Taxonomic Tree

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Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Spermatophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Monocotyledonae
Order: Cyperales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Chrysopogon
Species: Chrysopogon aciculatus

Description

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C. aciculatus is a rhizomatous or stoloniferous, spreading perennial. Culm often erect, 15-25 cm tall, geniculate, branching; always rooting at the nodes. Leaves 3-15 cm long, 2-6 mm wide (15 to 20 times as long as wide), linear, often hairy at mouth only. Ligule membranous and truncate. Inflorescence a panicle, 5-10 cm long, 2.5 cm wide, composed of several whorls of short reddish branches which gradually spread horizontally when ripe. Each branch bearing at its end a group of three spikelets. Branch axis jointed below the spikelet group. Spikelets ternate and similar: one sessile hermaphrodite aproximately 4 mm long with a hairy oblique callus; two pedicelled, male or neuter. Glumes: G1 2-4 mm long, 3- to 2-nerved; G2 2-4 mm long, 3-nerved with 1.5- to 2-mm-long awn. Lemmas: L1 2-3 mm long, hyaline; L2 hyaline, 1-nerved, awned, awn 2.5-8 mm long, straight. Caryopsis oblong, 2 mm long.

Plant Type

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Grass / sedge
Perennial
Seed propagated

Distribution

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Häfliger and Scholz (1980) list Chrysopogon aciculatus as being present in Central and Western Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the South-East Asian subcontinent, China, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia and the Pacific Islands. It is native to South-East Asia, Australia and Fiji (USDA-ARS, 2003) and probably native elsewhere in the Pacific and an early introduction on other islands.

Distribution Table

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The distribution in this summary table is based on all the information available. When several references are cited, they may give conflicting information on the status. Further details may be available for individual references in the Distribution Table Details section which can be selected by going to Generate Report.

Last updated: 15 Dec 2020

Continent/Country/Region	Distribution	Origin	Reference
Africa
Nigeria	Present	Introduced	Stanfield (1970)
Uganda	Present	Introduced	Clayton and Renvoize (1982)
Asia
Bangladesh	Present, Localized		Holm et al. (1979) EPPO (2020)
Cambodia	Present, Localized		Holm et al. (1979) EPPO (2020)
China	Present, Localized		Holm et al. (1979) EPPO (2020) CABI (Undated)
-Hainan	Present	Native	Bai ChangJun (1994)
Hong Kong	Present, Localized		Holm et al. (1979) EPPO (2020)
India	Present, Localized		Holm et al. (1979) Agrawal (1990) EPPO (2020) CABI (Undated)
-Assam	Present		Barthakur et al. (1989)
-Karnataka	Present		Banerjee (1985)
-Odisha	Present		Misra and Misra (1981)
-Uttar Pradesh	Present		Bhandari et al. (1998)
Indonesia	Present, Localized		Seavoy (1975) Holm et al. (1979) EPPO (2020) CABI (Undated)
Malaysia	Present, Localized		Holm et al. (1979) Kamal-Uddin et al. (2009) EPPO (2020)
Myanmar	Present, Localized		Holm et al. (1979) EPPO (2020)
Nepal	Present		Lehmkuhl (1992)
Philippines	Present, Localized		Holm et al. (1979) Pancho and Obien (1983) Penafiel (1988) EPPO (2020) CABI (Undated)
Sri Lanka	Present, Localized		Holm et al. (1979) EPPO (2020)
Taiwan	Present, Localized		Holm et al. (1979) EPPO (2020)
Thailand	Present, Localized		Holm et al. (1979) EPPO (2020)
Vietnam	Present, Localized		Holm et al. (1979) EPPO (2020)
North America
United States	Present, Localized		EPPO (2020) Anderson (2012)
-Florida	Present		Anderson (2012)
-Hawaii	Present		Holm et al. (1979) Mueller-Dombois (1981) EPPO (2020)
Oceania
American Samoa	Present	Native	Space and Flynn (2000)
Australia	Present, Localized		Holm et al. (1979) EPPO (2020) CABI (Undated)
Cook Islands	Present	Native	Space and Flynn (2002)
Federated States of Micronesia	Present	Native	Fosberg et al. (1987)
Fiji	Present, Localized		Holm et al. (1979) Partridge (1986) EPPO (2020)
French Polynesia	Present	Native	Welsh (1998)
Guam	Present	Native	Fosberg et al. (1987)
Marshall Islands	Present	Native	Fosberg et al. (1987)
Nauru	Present	Native	Fosberg et al. (1987)
New Caledonia	Present	Native	Swarbrick (1997)
Niue	Present	Native	Sykes (1970) Space and Flynn (2000a)
Northern Mariana Islands	Present	Native	Fosberg et al. (1987) Kessler (2003) Kessler (2011)
Palau	Present	Native	Space et al. (2003) Space et al. (2003a)
Papua New Guinea	Present		Room (1975)
Samoa	Present	Native	CABI (Undated a)
Solomon Islands	Present	Native	Swarbrick (1997)
Tonga	Present	Native	Yuncker (1959)
Vanuatu	Present	Native	Swarbrick (1997)
Wallis and Futuna	Present	Native	Whistler (1988)

Habitat

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C. aciculatus is a tropical grassland species. Lehmkuhl (1992) noted that it dominated grazed pasture based on a study in lowland Nepal. It occurs throughout the Philippines in open grasslands (Pancho and Obien, 1983). It is an exotic in Nigeria where it is well established as a lawn grass (Stanfield, 1970).

Habitat List

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Category	Sub-Category	Habitat	Presence	Status
Terrestrial	Managed	Cultivated / agricultural land	Present, no further details
Terrestrial	Managed	Managed forests, plantations and orchards	Present, no further details	Harmful (pest or invasive)
Terrestrial	Managed	Managed grasslands (grazing systems)	Present, no further details
Terrestrial	Managed	Disturbed areas	Present, no further details
Terrestrial	Managed	Rail / roadsides	Present, no further details
Terrestrial	Managed	Urban / peri-urban areas	Present, no further details

Hosts/Species Affected

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C. aciculatus is recorded as a weed species from tea fields in Assam, India (Barthakur et al., 1989), rubber plantations in Malaysia (Wycherley and Ahmad Azli bin Mohd, 1974) and from tobacco farms in the Philippines (Pancho and Obien, 1983).

Host Plants and Other Plants Affected

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Plant name	Family	Context
Camellia sinensis (tea)	Theaceae	Unknown
Hevea brasiliensis (rubber)	Euphorbiaceae	Unknown
Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco)	Solanaceae	Unknown

Biology and Ecology

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In a study of vegetation dynamics, Mueller-Dombois (1981) recorded C. aciculatus from tropical grasslands with mediterranean seasonal rainfall on leeward Hawaii. Wycherley and Ahmad Azli bin Mohd (1974) describe it as prefering rather dry, open conditions although it can also persist in turf for a long time. It proliferates under heavy grazing regimes (Robertson and Humphrys, 1976; Partridge, 1986). Grasslands in Kalimantan, Indonesia, probably originated through shifting cultivation of forest land and subsequent burning. Cattle grazing on these grasslands resulted in the replacement of Imperata cylindrica by Axonopus compressus and C. aciculatus if sufficiently intensive (Seavoy, 1975).

Plant Trade

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Plant parts liable to carry the pest in trade/transport	Pest stages	Borne internally	Borne externally	Visibility of pest or symptoms
Flowers/Inflorescences/Cones/Calyx	flowers; seeds
Growing medium accompanying plants	seeds
Roots	roots
Seedlings/Micropropagated plants	whole plants
True seeds (inc. grain)	seeds

Plant parts not known to carry the pest in trade/transport
Bark
Bulbs/Tubers/Corms/Rhizomes
Fruits (inc. pods)
Leaves
Stems (above ground)/Shoots/Trunks/Branches
Wood

Impact Summary

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Category	Impact
Animal/plant collections	None
Animal/plant products	None
Biodiversity (generally)	None
Crop production	Negative
Environment (generally)	Negative
Fisheries / aquaculture	None
Forestry production	None
Human health	Negative
Livestock production	Negative
Native fauna	Negative
Native flora	Negative
Rare/protected species	None
Tourism	None
Trade/international relations	None
Transport/travel	None

Threatened Species

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Threatened Species	Conservation Status	Where Threatened	Mechanism	References	Notes
Schiedea spergulina var. leiopoda	National list(s); USA ESA listing as endangered species	Hawaii	Competition - monopolizing resources	US Fish and Wildlife Service (2010)

Risk and Impact Factors

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Invasiveness

Tolerates, or benefits from, cultivation, browsing pressure, mutilation, fire etc

Impact outcomes

Negatively impacts agriculture

Impact mechanisms

Competition - monopolizing resources
Produces spines, thorns or burrs

Likelihood of entry/control

Highly likely to be transported internationally accidentally

Uses

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C. aciculatus has been used for erosion control, lawns, forage and medicines (USDA-ARS, 2003).

Uses List

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Animal feed, fodder, forage

Forage

Environmental

Erosion control or dune stabilization

General

Ornamental

Medicinal, pharmaceutical

Traditional/folklore

Prevention and Control

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Due to the variable regulations around (de)registration of pesticides, your national list of registered pesticides or relevant authority should be consulted to determine which products are legally allowed for use in your country when considering chemical control. Pesticides should always be used in a lawful manner, consistent with the product's label.

Cultural Control

Mueller-Dumbois (1981) noted the reduction in this species during a study in Hawaii where the grassland was protected from grazing goats.

References

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Bai CJ, 1994. Exploitation and utilization of wild sods. Pratacultural Science, 11(2):34-36.

Banerjee BC, 1985. On the occurrence of some grasses in Coorg district of Karnataka state. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany, 7(2):479-480.

Barnes DE, Chandapillai MM, 1975. Common Malaysian Weeds and their Control. Malaysia: Shah Alam, Ancom.

Barthakur BK, Dutta P, Begum R, 1989. Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) is some weed species of tea fields. Two and a Bud, 36(1-2):8-9

Bhandari BS, Mehta JP, Tiwari SC, 1998. Impact of grazing and burning on growth, reproductive performance and crude protein content of some forage grasses in a submontane grazingland of Garhwal Himalaya. Range Management and Agroforestry, 19(1):1-12.

Chandrasena JPNR, Perera DN, 1987. The allelopathic potential of torpedograss (Panicum repens L.). Proceedings, 11th Asian Pacific Weed Science Society Conference Taipei, Taiwan; Asian Pacific Weed Science Society, No. 2:581-592

Clayton WD, Renvoize SA, 1982. Gramineae (Part 3). In: Polhill RM, ed. Flora of Tropical East Africa. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Balkema.

Datta SC, Bandyopadhyay AK, 1981. Allelopathic influences of three weeds on two crop plants. Proceedings of the Eighth Asian-Pacific Weed Science Society Conference., 391-399

EPPO, 2014. PQR database. Paris, France: European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization. http://www.eppo.int/DATABASES/pqr/pqr.htm

Fosberg FR, Sachet M-H, Oliver R, 1987. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian monocotyledonae. Micronesia 20: 1-2, 19-129.

Holm L, Pancho JV, Herberger JP, Plucknett DL, 1979. A Geographical Atlas of World Weeds. Toronto, Canada: John Wiley and Sons Inc.

Häfliger E, Scholz H, 1980. Grass Weeds 1: Weeds of the subfamily Panicoideae. Basle, Switzerland: Documenta CIBA GEIGY.

Ismail BS, Mah LS, 1993. Effects of Mikania micrantha H.B.K. on germination and growth of weed species. Plant and Soil, 157(1):107-113

Johnson SJ, Valentine PS, Lane DA, 1994. Notes on life histories and biology of the species of Neohesperilla Waterhouse and Lyell (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae). Australian Entomologist, 21(2):55-59

Lehmkuhl JF, 1992. Above-ground production and response to defoliation on a native pasture in lowland Nepal. Tropical Grasslands, 26(2): 82-88.

Misra MK, Misra BN, 1981. Seasonal changes in leaf area index and chlorophyll in an Indian grassland. Journal of Ecology, 69(3):797-805.

Mueller-Dombois D, 1981. Vegetation dynamics in a coastal grassland of Hawaii. In: Poissonet P, et al., eds. Vegetation dynamics in grasslands, heathlands and mediterranean ligneous formations. Netherlands: Dr. W. Junk, 131-140.

Pancho JV, Obien SR, 1983. Manual of Weeds of Tobacco farms in the Philippines. Batac, Ilocos Norte, Philippines: Philippines Tobacco Research and Training Center, Mariano Marcos State University.

Partridge IJ, 1986. Effect of stocking rate and superphosphate level on an oversown fire climax grassland of mission grass (Pennisetum polystachyon) in Fiji. I. Botanical composition of pasture. Tropical Grasslands, 20(4):166-173; 12 ref.

Penafiel SR, 1988. Effects of three pasture plant extracts on germination of Benguet pine (Pinus kesiya Royle ex Gordon). Malaysian Forester 49(1-2):181-184.

Robertson AD, Humphreys LR, 1976. Effects of frequency of heavy grazing and of phosphorus supply on an Arundinaria ciliata association oversown with Stylosanthes humilis. Thai Journal of Agricultural Science, 9(3):181-188.

Room PM, 1975. Diversity and organization of the ground foraging ant faunas of forest, grassland and tree crops in Papua New Guinea. Australian Journal of Zoology, 23(1):71-89

Seavoy RE, 1975. The origin of tropical grasslands in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Journal of Tropical Geography, 40:48-52.

Space JC, Flynn T, 2000. Observations on invasive plant species in American Samoa. USDA Forest Service, Honolulu, 51.

Space JC, Waterhouse BM, Miles JE, Tiobech J, Rengulbai K, 2003. Report to the Republic of Palau on invasive plant species of environmental concern. Honolulu, USA: USDA Forest Service.

Stanfield DP, 1970. The Flora of Nigeria Grasses. Ibadan, Nigeria: Ibadan University Press.

Swarbrick JT, 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper No. 209. Noumea, New Caledonia: South Pacific Commission.

Sykes WR, 1970. Contributions to the flora of Niue. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 200. p. 238.

US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2010. In: Schiedea spergulina var. leiopoda (no common name). 5-Year Review: Summary and Evaluation. US Fish and Wildlife Service, 11 pp.

USDA-ARS, 2003. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online Database. Beltsville, Maryland, USA: National Germplasm Resources Laboratory. https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomysearch.aspx

Welsh SL, 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands. Orem, Utah, USA: E.P.S. Inc.

Whistler WA, 1988. Checklist of the weed flora of Western Polynesia. An annotated list of the weed species of Samoa, Tonga, Niue, and Wallis and Futuna, along with the earliest dates of collection and the local names. Technical Paper, South Pacific Commission, No. 194:69 pp.

Wycherley PR, Ahmad Azli bin Mohd Y, 1974. Grasses in Malayan Plantations. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia.

Yuncker TG, 1959. Plants of Tonga. B.P. Bishop Museum Bull., 220:165.

Distribution References

Agrawal A K, 1990. Floristic Composition and Phenology of Temperate Grasslands of Western Himalaya as Affected by Scraping, Fire and Heavy Grazing. Vegetatio. 177-187. DOI:10.1007/BF00044834

Anderson P J, 2012. Pest Alert: Chrysopogon aciculatus - golden false beardgrass, lovegrass, Mackie's pest, a noxious weed new to the continental United States., https://www.fdacs.gov/ezs3download/download/25061/515977/chrysopogon-aciculatus.pdf

Bai ChangJun, 1994. Exploitation and utilization of wild sods. Pratacultural Science. 11 (2), 34-36.

Banerjee B C, 1985. On the occurrence of some grasses in Coorg district of Karnataka state. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany. 7 (2), 479-480.

Barthakur B K, Dutta P, Begum R, 1989. Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) is some weed species of tea fields. Two and a Bud. 36 (1-2), 8-9.

Bhandari B S, Mehta J P, Tiwari S C, 1998. Impact of grazing and burning on growth, reproductive performance and crude protein content of some forage grasses in a submontane grazingland of Garhwal Himalaya. Range Management & Agroforestry. 19 (1), 1-12.

CABI, Undated. Compendium record. Wallingford, UK: CABI

CABI, Undated a. CABI Compendium: Status as determined by CABI editor. Wallingford, UK: CABI

Clayton W D, Renvoize S A, 1982. Flora of Tropical East Africa. Gramineae (Part 3). Rotterdam, Netherlands: A.A. Balkema. 448pp.

EPPO, 2020. EPPO Global database. In: EPPO Global database, Paris, France: EPPO. https://gd.eppo.int/

Fosberg FR, Sachet M-H, Oliver R, 1987. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian monocotyledonae. In: Micronesia, 20 1-2, 19-129.

Holm L, Pancho JV, Herberger JP, Plucknett DL, 1979. A Geographical Atlas of World Weeds., Toronto, Canada: John Wiley and Sons Inc.

Kamal-Uddin M, Juraimi A S, Begum M, Ismail M R, Rahim A A, Othman R, 2009. Floristic composition of weed community in turf grass area of west peninsular Malaysia. International Journal of Agriculture and Biology. 11 (1), 13-20. http://www.fspublishers.org/

Kessler C C, 2003. Eradication of feral goats and pigs and consequences for other biota on Sarigan Island, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. In: Turning the tide: the eradication of invasive species: Proceedings of the International Conference on eradication of island invasives. [ed. by Veitch C R, Clout M N]. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN-The World Conservation Union. 132-140.

Kessler C C, 2011. Invasive species removal and ecosystem recovery in the Mariana Islands; challenges and outcomes on Sarigan and Anatahan. In: In C. R. Veitch, M. N. Clout, & D. R. Towns (Eds.), Island invasives: eradication and management. 320-324. http://www.issg.org/pdf/publications/Island_Invasives/pdfHQprint/3Kessler.pdf

Lehmkuhl J F, 1992. Above-ground production and response to defoliation on a native pasture in lowland Nepal. Tropical Grasslands. 26 (2), 82-88.

Misra M K, Misra B N, 1981. Seasonal changes in leaf area index and chlorophyll in an Indian grassland. Journal of Ecology. 69 (3), 797-805.

Mueller-Dombois D, 1981. Vegetation dynamics in a coastal grassland of Hawaii. In: Vegetation dynamics in grasslands, heathlands and mediterranean ligneous formations. [Vegetation dynamics in grasslands, heathlands and mediterranean ligneous formations.], [ed. by Poissonet P, et al]. The Hague, Netherlands: Dr. W. Junk. 131-140.

Pancho JV, Obien SR, 1983. Manual of Weeds of Tobacco farms in the Philippines., Batac, Ilocos Norte, Philippines: Philippines Tobacco Research and Training Center, Mariano Marcos State University.

Partridge I J, 1986. Effect of stocking rate and superphosphate level on an oversown fire climax grassland of mission grass (Pennisetum polystachyon) in Fiji. I. Botanical composition of pasture. Tropical Grasslands. 20 (4), 166-173.

Penafiel SR, 1988. Effects of three pasture plant extracts on germination of Benguet pine (Pinus kesiya Royle ex Gordon). In: Malaysian Forester, 49 (1-2) 181-184.

Room P M, 1975. Diversity and organization of the ground foraging ant faunas of forest, grassland and tree crops in Papua New Guinea. Australian Journal of Zoology. 23 (1), 71-89. DOI:10.1071/ZO9750071

Seavoy R E, 1975. The origin of tropical grasslands in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Journal of Tropical Geography. 48-52.

Space J C, Flynn T, 2000a. Report to the Government of Niue on Invasive Plant Species of Environmental Concern., USA: Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry. http://www.hear.org/pier/pdf/niue_report.pdf

Space J C, Flynn T, 2002. Report to the Government of the Cook Islands on invasive plant species of environmental concern. In: Report to the Government of the Cook Islands on invasive plant species of environmental concern. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA: USDA Forest Service. 146 pp. http://www.hear.org/pier/pdf/cook_islands_report.pdf

Space J C, Waterhouse B M, Miles J E, Tiobech J, Rengulbai K, 2003a. Report to the Republic of Palau on invasive plant species of environmental concern. In: Report to the Republic of Palau on invasive plant species of environmental concern. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA: USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry. https://www.sprep.org/att/IRC/eCOPIES/Countries/Palau/11.pdf

Space JC, Flynn T, 2000. Observations on invasive plant species in American Samoa., Honolulu, USDA Forest Service. 51.

Space JC, Waterhouse BM, Miles JE, Tiobech J, Rengulbai K, 2003. Report to the Republic of Palau on invasive plant species of environmental concern., Honolulu, USA: USDA Forest Service.

Stanfield DP, 1970. The Flora of Nigeria Grasses., Ibadan, Nigeria: Ibadan University Press.

Swarbrick JT, 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. In: Technical paper No. 209, Noumea, New Caledonia, South Pacific Commission.

Sykes WR, 1970. Contributions to the flora of Niue. In: New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin, 200 238.

Welsh SL, 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands., Orem, Utah, USA: E.P.S. Inc.

Whistler W A, 1988. Checklist of the weed flora of Western Polynesia. An annotated list of the weed species of Samoa, Tonga, Niue, and Wallis and Futuna, along with the earliest dates of collection and the local names. In: Technical Paper, South Pacific Commission, 69 pp.

Yuncker TG, 1959. Plants of Tonga. In: B.P. Bishop Museum Bull, 220 165.

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Chrysopogon aciculatus (golden false beardgrass)

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