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Although officially known as Koronivia grass in Queensland and throughout the Pacific, graziers in north Queensland now generally refer to it as `humidicola'. The released cultivar is Tulley. Although
it has been released for the humid tropics, humidicola will grow as far south
as Brisbane; however, it is not frost hardy and its cool season growth is
lower than that of signal grass. Humidicola
is a stoloniferous perennial that roots strongly at the nodes and forms a
tight sod. The leaf blades are mostly smooth, narrow and folded, and rise to
a sharp point at the end. The foliage appears rather hard, but cattle readily
eat humidicola and horses prefer it to signal grass.
While
signal grass is a softer more productive species, humidicola is more tolerant
of waterlogging, salinity and very acid soils. It is very resistant to heavy
grazing, standing high stock densities over the wet season, indeed it should
not be allowed to become too rank. It is aggressive against weeds and also
legumes, except for hetero. Humidicola was planted from runners, but seed is now available. |
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Creator:
Ian Partridge, |
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