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Coastal Spinegrass
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Coastal Spinegrass
ative Photo: Prashant Awale
Common name: Coastal Spinegrass, Ravan's Moustache, Littoral Spinegrass • Bengali: রাবনের গোঁফ Rabanera Gompha • Gujarati: રાવણની મૂછ Ravan-Ni Mooch • Kannada: ರಾವಣನ ಮೀಸೆ ಹುಲ್ಲು Raavanana Meese Hullu • Konkani: सरांटो Saramto • Malayalam: എലിമുള്ള് Elimullu • Marathi: कोलांटी तण Kolanti Tan, रावणाची मिशी Ravanachi Mishi • Oriya: ବଡ଼ କଙ୍କ Barda Kanka, ରାବଣେଶ୍ବର ଦାଢ଼ି Rabaneswara Dardhi • Tamil: எலிக்குச்சிப்புல் Eli-K-Kucci-P-Pul, இராவணன் மீசை Iravanan-Michai, இராவணன்புல் Iravanan-Pul • Telugu: గుత్తి రోమలు గడ్డి Gutti-Romalu-Gaddi, రావణాసురుని మీసాలు Ravanasuruni-Misalu Source: Names of Plants in India
Botanical name: Spinifex littoreus    Family: Poaceae (Grass family)
Coastal Spinegrass is a perennial grass with stolon-forming stems, hard, stout, many-noded, rooting and copiously branching at nodes. Flowering shoots ascend u[ to 1-3 ft. Leaves are very tough, inrolled, curved, 5-20 × 0.2-0.3 cm, margins rough, tip spiny.Ligule is densely ciliate. Male flowers are borne in 2-5 clustered round heads 5-10 × 6-8 cm. Racemes are 3-6 cm, bearing 5-10 loosely imbricate spikelets. Female inflorescences is round. 20-35 cm in diameter. Racemes are covered with needle-like 10-18 cm rachis. Female spikelets are lanceolate-oblong, 1-2 cm, pointed. Glumes are oblong-lanceolate, lower glume many-veined, upper glume 7-9-veined. This species is an efficient sand binder, forming large colonies and stabilizing dunes. The female inflorescences act as tumbleweeds. The seeds within are dispersed as the spiky head is transported along the coast by wind and sea.
Identification credit: Tanay Bose, Adittya Dharap, Mahadeswara Swamy Photographed at Kadmat Island, Lakshadweep.
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