Nature Notes - Buffel Grass
Buffel GrassAn Afghan Hitchhiker
Buffel Grass, Cenchrus ciliaris, is strong, deep-rooted, perennial grass which is believed to have come to Australia with camels in the 1860s. It is a native of eastern Africa and Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Until the 1920s, Afghan camel trains carted most of the goods needed by the people settling the dry heart of the continent. It is thought that the saddles that the Afghan camel drivers brought with them contained Buffel Grass for padding. The seeds escaped as the saddles got torn or wore out. If you visit any old Afghan camp sites you’re likely to find some Buffel Grass growing.
One of the first places where it became established was at Wallal, on the northwest coast between Broome and Port Hedland. Camels were landed there in the 1880s. Local cattlemen took an interest in Buffel Grass when they saw that it was drought-hardy and able to withstand heavy grazing. So, after the 1914-1918 war, the WA Department of Agriculture started spreading the grass in the northwest of the state. They were using seed sent by General Birdwood, former commander of the ANZAC troops at Gallipoli, who was then in charge of British forces in India.
In the late 1920s, Queenslanders were experimenting with Buffel Grass and its close relative Birdwood Grass Cenchrus setigerus in Cloncurry. Buffel is now widely planted in northern Australia as a pasture grass.
It didn’t take long for the grass to make its way to Central Australia. Camels were used to cart goods and equipment during the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line from Darwin to Adelaide between 1870 and 1872. In the following years, Buffel Grass appeared around Afghan camp sites in Alice Springs, Ti Tree Well, Barrow Creek and Tennant Creek.
In 1961 Government officers and cattlemen started releasing seeds on 31 stations in the Centre, ranging from Mongrel Downs in the northwest and Argadargada in the northeast, down to New Crown and Mt Cavanagh in the south. Seeds were also sown in the Alice Springs farm area and at Maggie Springs (Uluru).