Eragrostis leptostachya

Eragrostis leptostachya, the paddock lovegrass, is a tufted perennial grass in the Poaceae native to Australia, where it is widespread through New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and the Northern Territory, growing on a wide range of soils in open woodland, grassland, and disturbed pasture. Plants form loose, erect to slightly geniculate tussocks 30 to 90 centimetres tall arising from a knotty, short-rhizomatous base. The narrow, flat to inrolled leaf blades are 10 to 25 centimetres long, with smooth, glabrous sheaths and a short ciliate ligule. The inflorescence is a slender, narrow, often somewhat contracted panicle 10 to 30 centimetres long bearing many small, laterally compressed, 5- to 15-flowered spikelets 4 to 10 millimetres long that range from pale green to purplish. The grain is a small reddish brown caryopsis. The species is moderately palatable to livestock and is one of many native lovegrasses contributing to Australian pasture diversity.