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C. selloana is an erect perennial, tussock grass, up to 2-4 m tall and 1-2 m wide. The leaves are 1-3 m long and 3-8 cm wide, glaucous-green, with serrulate margins and a V-shaped cross-section. The leaves are contained in groups in an auricle-like sheath often glabrous at the base. Inflorescences consist of several large plumose light-violet to silver-white (30-130 cm) long, stiff panicles. It is a gynodioecious species (i.e. it has hermaphrodite plants and female plants). It forms numerous 1.5 cm spikelets, containing six florets in female plants and three in hermaphrodite plants. Florets are less than 1 cm long, glumes are white or membranous, the lemma is long and hairy, awns are less than half a centimeter long and the stigmas are exerted. Seeds are not easily separated from the racilla (DiTomaso, 2000) and they weigh, on average, 2.74 x 10 -4 g (Lambrinos, 2002).

Related invasive species

  • Cortaderia selloana

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C. selloana (pampas grass) is an erect perennial, tussock grass, up to 2-4 m tall and 1-2 m wide. It has large (1-3 m), glaucous-green leaves with serrulate margins. Inflorescences consist of several large plumose light-violet to silver-white panicles producing thousands of tiny wind-dispersed seeds. This South American grass has been introduced in temperate and subtropical areas mainly as an ornamental. It has also been introduced for erosion control and as a barrier or windbreak. It is listed as one of the worst invader taxa in Europe (DAISIE, 2009) and as a noxious species in Western Australia (Parsons and Cuthbertson, 2001).

Has Cabi datasheet ID
11872
Hosts

In New Zealand and Australia it affects pine plantations (Parsons and Cuthbertson, 2001).
Host Plants and Other Plants Affected
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Plant name|Family|Context
Pinus (pines)|Pinaceae
Biology and Ecology
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Genetics 2n = 72 (Lambrinos, 2002). Mean total gene diversity (Ht) for 10 microsatellite loci in 650 invasive individuals, averaged over 29 populations sampled in California, USA, is 0.590 compared to 0.622 from 275 cultivated plants of different varieties (Okada et al., 2007). It does not hybridize with related taxa. Reproductive Biology It is a gynodioecious species, that is, some plants produce hermaphrodite flowers and others produce only female flowers (Connor, 1973). Functionally, hermaphrodite plants act only as pollen donors and therefore seed production on hermaphrodite plants is very low. A panicle from a female plant can produce more than 50,000 seeds;whereas seed production in hermaphrodite plants is one order of magnitude lower (Domènech, 2005). A female plant can produce more than one million viable wind-dispersed seeds. Seeds lack dormancy (Costas-Lippmann, 1976). Seed viability between the two sexes is also different;it is five times greater in seeds from female plants than from hermaphrodites. Seeds germinate under a wide range of environmental conditions, yet germination rate can be improved under shading, in sandy soils and with high water availability (Domènech and Vilà, 2008a). Vegetative reproduction can occur when tillers are fragmented and receive adequate moisture. However, it hardly occurs in nature, but plant propagation through the division of mature plants has traditionally been used for ornamental purposes (DiTomaso, 2000). Physiology and Phenology It flowers in late summer, and hermaphrodite panicles appear 1 or 2 weeks before female panicles (Parsons and Cuthbertson, 2001). Seed dispersal occurs in the autumn and seeds germinate in the early spring. In Mediterranean areas where this species has been introduced, summer drought and mammal herbivory are the major causes of seedling mortality (Lambrinos, 2002). Seedlings seem to be more resistant to water stress than similar coexisting perennial grasses because as water become scarce, C. selloana maximizes water uptake by increasing the R/S ratio and minimizes water loss by reducing specific leaf area (Domènech and Vilà, 2008b). Optimal temperature for seedling growth is 20ºC (Stanton and DiTomaso, 2004). Seedling survival and growth is enhanced by protection from direct light exposure, and soil disturbance at any seral stage and in any habitat type (Lambrinos, 2002;Domènech and Vilà, 2006). Associations In Argentina, wet grasslands dominated by C. selloana are refuges for small mammals such as the rare sigmodontine rodent Deltamys kempi (Teta et al., 2007). In New Zealand, the rare hyphomycete (Zygosporium bioblitzi) has been found on dead, attached leaves (McKenzie et al., 2007). Environmental Requirements In its introduced range, C. selloana can be found from sea level to around altitudes of 400 m. An analysis of soil characteristics across 27 populations along a 300 km area, found soil N ranging from 0.03-0.3 %, organic C from 0.09-4.6 % and pH 7.4-8.5. Plant population density and the proportion of juvenile plants were positively correlated to percentage bare ground. Plant density was also negatively correlated with pH and richness of plant functional groups (Domènech and Vilà, 2007).
Climate
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Climate|Status|Description|Remark
BS - Steppe climate| Preferred
430mm and 860mm annual precipitation
Cf - Warm temperate climate, wet all year| Preferred
Warm average temp. 10°C, Cold average temp. 0°C, wet all year
Cs - Warm temperate climate with dry summer| Preferred
Warm average temp. 10°C, Cold average temp. 0°C, dry summers
Cw - Warm temperate climate with dry winter| Preferred
Warm temperate climate with dry winter (Warm average temp. 10°C, Cold average temp. 0°C, dry winters)
Latitude/Altitude Ranges
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Latitude North (°N)|Latitude South (°S)|Altitude Lower (m)|Altitude Upper (m)
30-57
30-40
0
0
Air Temperature
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Parameter
Lower limit
Upper limit
Mean annual temperature (ºC)
8
18
Mean maximum temperature of hottest month (ºC)
6
34
Mean minimum temperature of coldest month (ºC)
3
19
Rainfall
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Parameter|Lower limit|Upper limit|Description
Dry season duration|0|4|number of consecutive months with 40 mm rainfall
Mean annual rainfall|400|1100|mm;lower/upper limits
Rainfall Regime
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Uniform
Winter
Soil Tolerances
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Soil drainage
free
Soil reaction
alkaline
Soil texture
light
medium
Special soil tolerances
infertile
Means of Movement and Dispersal
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Natural Dispersal
Seeds are very light and wind dispersed. Seed drop time is on average 0.22 m/sec (Lambrinos, 2002). Seeds can disperse to at least 40 m away from mother plants, and local wind direction determines the spatial distribution of seedlings (Saura-Mas and Lloret, 2005).
Intentional Introduction
In cultural landscapes its spread is very much related to time because of pasture or agricultural field abandonment and distance to urban areas where it is planted as an ornamental (Domènech et al., 2005). Plant density in old fields can increase three fold in less than 5 years (Domènech et al., 2005). In northern, humid areas of Spain, population size can increase two fold in a year (Herrera and Campos, 2006).

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