Name
Yellow Thatching Grass or Yellow Hard Grass
Latin Name
Hyperthelia dissoluta
Uses
Yellow Hard Grass is grazed in the young stage but later becomes too hard for grazing. It is a strong competitor and can form dense stands in undergrazed veld, which is then difficult to eradicate. Yellow Thatching Grass is a popular thatching grass used by rural people to roof their homes - and for thatch constructions in urban areas.
Description
Yellow Hared Grass is a tall, tufted perennial with 12 mm leaf blades and a length up to 3 m. The inflorescence is purplish-red with yellow awns and the leaf sheath has prominent auricles, with unbranched culms.
Habitat
Yellow Thatching Grass usually grows in sandy soil in bushveld with a rainfall in excess of 600 mm per annum. It is also found in open grassland and sometimes in other soil types. Often abundant along roadsides it is found throughout tropical Africa.
Flowers
December - June in South Africa
Field Notes
Thatch Grass is used throughout Africa as roofs for houses - with only subsistence living rural people and very wealthy suburbanites been able to afford the luxury. In rural areas it is freely available for housing requirements whereas in urban areas it is only the wealthier people that can afford the insurance against fire costs.
