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African feather grass (Cenchrus macrourus)

African feather grass is an invasive perennial weed of roadsides, riverbanks, pastures and waste areas in Australia. Dense infestations can exclude other plants, create a significant fire hazard and block waterways.

Key facts

Type: Weed, grass.

Native to: South Africa.

Established in: NSW, ACT, VIC, TAS, SA, WA.

Other names: Bedding grass.

Best time to act: Look for flowering in late spring and summer; spraying is recommended from spring to autumn, including on regrowth after winter slashing.

Identification

  • It grows in dense, erect tufts and can reach 1.5 to 2 metres tall.
  • Its light-green leaves can grow to 50 centimetres long and are flat or partly rolled, with rough edges.
  • The flower head is a long, narrow, dense spike, usually pale brown to straw-coloured and sometimes purplish.
  • Its seed heads have small spikelets surrounded by feather-like bristles, with one bristle longer and thicker than the others.
  • Look-alike: Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) also forms tussocks, but African feather grass has a distinctive long, thin, foxtail-like flower head.
  • Look-alike: Other Cenchrus grasses can look similar; African feather grass is usually 1 to 2 metres tall and has rounded seed-head stems with relatively short, rough bristles.

Where it grows

In Australia it occurs in the ACT, NSW, SA, Tasmania, Victoria and WA, growing in open, well-drained areas including grassland, waterways, wetlands, roadsides, pastures and waste areas.

Why it matters

  • Dense clumps can rapidly spread and eliminate other plants, reducing biodiversity and displacing native grassland and woodland species.
  • Infestations can create a significant fire hazard and block waterways and access to streams and rivers.
  • The tough, coarse leaves have low nutritional value and are rarely grazed by stock.
  • Seeds can cling to animal wool and hair, potentially reducing wool quality.

How it spreads

  • It spreads mainly by rhizomes, which can produce many new plants; soil disturbance can move rhizome fragments in soil or mud on machinery and implements.
  • Seeds can be carried by animals on their bristles, moved short distances by wind, or carried by water during flooding.
  • People have also spread it by planting it as an ornamental or using it in dried flower arrangements.

Control options

  • Use repeated control over a long period to exhaust the rhizome reserves, and encourage competition from desirable pasture plants, shrubs or trees.
  • Dig out small plants, removing all rhizome fragments; larger plants may require excavation, with the removed soil checked or monitored for regrowth.
  • Registered herbicides can be used as follow-up treatment on regrowth after excavation, slashing or burning, and treatment should continue until regrowth stops.
  • For large, dense infestations, slashing or burning followed by treatment of regrowth is described as an effective option.

Hygiene and washdown

  • Clean machinery and implements thoroughly after work near the plants, as soil or mud can carry rhizome fragments to new sites.
  • Avoid moving soil containing rhizome fragments, and take care with seed-bearing material that may be carried by animals or water.
  • Inspect and clean vehicles, plant and footwear before leaving an infested area, paying attention to tyres, radiators, belly plates, tracks and floor mats.
  • Wash down at a designated bay where runoff is contained and can be monitored for seedlings.
  • Record each washdown so the client has evidence of clean entry and exit.

Classification by state

  • Australia (national): No national listing. Managed under state and territory law.
  • Queensland: Not prohibited or restricted. Not listed as prohibited or restricted matter in Queensland. Everyone must also take all reasonable and practical steps to minimise its risks (the general biosecurity obligation).
  • New South Wales: Not a priority weed. Not a state or regional priority weed in NSW. The general biosecurity duty applies: anyone dealing with it must prevent, eliminate or minimise the risk it poses.
  • Victoria: Regionally prohibited / regionally controlled weed (varies by region). Where it is regionally prohibited, landowners must take all reasonable steps to eradicate it on their land. Where it is regionally controlled, landowners must take all reasonable steps to prevent its growth and spread on their land.
  • South Australia: Declared plant. Depending on the declaration, it can be an offence to move it on public roads or sell it, and landowners may be required to control it on their land.
  • Western Australia: Permitted, not declared. Listed as a permitted organism in WA, so it can be brought in, but it is not a declared pest.
  • Tasmania: Declared weed. Property managers are required by law to control declared weeds, and their import and sale are prohibited.
  • Northern Territory: Not declared. Not on the NT A to Z weed list, and Weeds Australia does not list it as declared in the NT. Check the NT declared weeds list before moving or planting it.
  • Australian Capital Territory: Not declared. Not declared under the Biosecurity Act 2023 (ACT). A general biosecurity duty still applies.

Legal obligations

Every state and territory places a duty on landholders and people working on land to prevent the spread of invasive species, such as the general biosecurity obligation in Queensland and the general biosecurity duty in New South Wales. Declarations and control requirements differ between states and local government areas, so check the current official list before work starts.

  • New South Wales: Biosecurity Act 2015 (NSW), administered by NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
  • Australian Capital Territory: Biosecurity Act 2023 (ACT), administered by ACT Biosecurity
  • Victoria: Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 (Vic), administered by Agriculture Victoria
  • Tasmania: Biosecurity Act 2019 (Tas), administered by Biosecurity Tasmania
  • South Australia: Landscape South Australia Act 2019 (SA), administered by the regional landscape board
  • Western Australia: Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007 (WA), administered by the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

Sources