DISTRIBUTION:
• It grows mostly in clay and loam soil in moist places.
• Often a weed in gardens, cultivated lands and on roadsides.
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION:
General: An erect or bent perennial tufted grass with short rhizomes. Grows up to 1,5 m high.
Leaves: Leaf blades are flat. Rachis flat with the midrib raised on one side.
Flowers: Inflorescence loose and flexible with 4 - 5 one-sided racemes. It has tufts of white hairs where the racemes join the central axis. November - February.
Toxic principle:
Dallis grass is susceptible to Claviceps paspali infestation; a dark coloured poisonous fungus that thrives on the spikelets and form hard, brownish bodies known as sclerotia or ergots.
SYSTEMS AFFECTED:
Central nervous system.
CLINICAL SIGNS:
• The staggers syndrome occurs predominantly in cattle.
• Clinical signs usually appear 2 to 7 days after grazing on infected grass
and include:
- hypersensitivity,
- tremors and
- incoordination, which become more pronounced with exercise.
• Severely affected animals may become recumbent and show typical
heartwater-like paddling.
• Appetite remains good and animals almost invariably recover after being removed from toxic pastures.
NECROPSY:
No pathological changes have been described.
TREATMENT:
Remove from infected pasture and allow to recover.
