Aussie Finch Forum

spanna wrote:That's trusty old veldt grass. Erharta longiflora I would say. My birds love it too, have bags of it in the freezer at the moment, mixed with some Erharta longiflora. I collect the seeds at the milk seed stage, and the leaves and old seed stems are brilliant for nesting material as well.

Wow i would never have guessed that was a panic we get the Erharta longiflora here too and plenty of Erharta erecta (which is what we refer to as panic)
but the Erharta longiflora is far less common.

Just noticed small grass and wondered what it is? Its small and low to the ground and the leaves have horizontal purple markings Close up of seed heads.

looks like barnyard millet to me. Have never seen the horizontal markings before on a grass. Definately looks like finches will like it.

possibly an enichloa species (please check my spelling) , same family as jap millet, not a bad one to have around and usually likes damp soil and summer time. Its worth saving some seed or spreading some gravel around near the plant, this will allow the seed to fall out of the feral birds reach. You will find it may die off through winter but the seed left behind will come back next year once the ground temp rises.I have the same stuff here

I thought it might be a Jap millet when I saw the way the seeds were sort of kinked around the stem, but the leaves look nothing like the Jap millet Ive planted (Echinochloa Esculenta) Ive just put some gravel around the new find, will let it establish a bit before taking any seed.

If you search under the old post -safe aviary plants names and pictures , you can see an almost identical plant (minus purple stripes). I also had the same as you have in the plot of weed seeds. With your warm weather it will grow well and the birds love it.

That would the one you posted, I thought it could be related too, it was the way the seed appears on the stem that reminded me of your pic, but I was just a bit concerned about the purple stripe. Thought it might be a "dont touch me" species Echinchloa (possibly colona) (desertbirds pic)

I dont't think the purple stripe is anything to worry about. It may be a sign of stress (hard to tell from a photo, but it might want a bit more water) or it could just be a natural colour variation.

Thanks, will be giving Seasol and water this morning. Hopefully it will grow a bit more and I will be able to harvest another variety of green seed for the birds.

shark is right, it's barnyard millet ,I feed it to my finchs it is purple in the base of the plant.