Gold Coast
flora and fauna

A guide to the plants and animals that make our city one of the most biodiverse in Australia.
Phylum
MAGNOLIOPHYTA
Class
LILIOPSIDA
Family
POACEAE
Genus
Melinis
Species
minutiflora
Has fauna
False
Mapping

Common Name
Molasses Grass
Alternate name
Is historical
False
QLD
Naturalised
NSW
EPBC
APC
ROTAP
Comment
LGA significant
False
Stronghold population
False
Wildnet record
False
Museum listing
False
Introduced
True
Qld Census
True
Regionally significant/rationale
False
Restricted distribution/rationale
False
Abundance
Very common
Historical abundance
Endemicity
Overall distribution
Local distribution
Widespread in disturbed areas, roadsides, etc on variety of soils
Known location
City-wide
Other locality
Riparian dependent
False
Wetland dependent
False
Forest dependent
False
Hollow dependent
False
Terrestrial
True
Estuarine
False
Marine
False
General ecology
Specific ecology
Habitat
Eucalypt Forest
Habitat comment
Threats
Management
Community type
Grassland, Downs, Open downs (unspecified)
Migratory
False
Migration notes
Feeding status
Feeding strategy
Feeding substrate
Diet
Reproduction
Grows thickly from rooted runners.
Breeding season
Active period
Active season
Social group
Behaviour
Range
Spreads from disturbed areas adjacent to native forest e.g. roads and tracks.
Biology
Growth form
Grass
Description
A spreading, densely smothering perennial mat grass. Stems branched and up to 90cm long. Foliage usually sticky and with strong odour resembling molasses. Slender flower heads, in winter, are 10–20cm long and purplish in colour when young. Highly flammable but recovers rapidly from fire and colonises burnt areas at the expense of native vegetation.
Taxonomy Comments
Species comments
Citations
Queensland Herbarium August 1999