In mine site revegetation, exotic grasses are more commonly used than
native grasses. This is due to unavailability of native grass seed on a
commerical scale and lack of information on agronomical aspects of
native grasses. This paper lists a number of native grass species that have
the potential to grow well on mine sites, and provides some information
on their seed collection, processing and germination. Further, it
demonstrates via results of a field trial conducted at Ranger Mine spoil
the relative performance of ten native grasses and Rhodes grass. It is
concluded that (i) some native grasses have similar ability to grow on
mine spoils compared to Rhodes grass and (ii) the use of native grasses
have added advantages in ecosystem restoration.