''Astrebla lappacea'', commonly known as curly Mitchell grass, is a herb of the family

Poaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...

from the order

Poales The Poales are a large order (biology), order of flowering plants in the monocotyledons, and includes families of plants such as the Poaceae, grasses, bromeliads, Juncaceae, rushes and Cyperaceae, sedges. 14 plant families are currently recogniz ...

. It grows to tall. Named in honour of Thomas Mitchell, the Latin

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

of ''lappacea'' is derived from ''lappa'' meaning with burrs. The most common of the ''

Astrebla ''Astrebla'' is a small genus of xerophytic (adapted to survive in an environment with little liquid water) grasses found only in Australia. They are the dominant grass across much of the continent. They are commonly known as Mitchell grass aft ...

'' species, it is a widespread Australian inland plant. It is often seen on floodplains and heavy self-mulching clay soils, and flowers in response to rain or flooding. This grass is palatable to livestock, even when dry.

References

Chloridoideae Flora of Australia Plants described in 1915 {{Chloridoideae-stub