General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations.
Ecological Restoration Notes: A common understory grass of pine rocklands, but less common in other pinelands in South Florida.
Availability:
Grown by enthusiasts.
Description: Medium to large herbaceous grass.
Dimensions: Typically 2-4 feet in height; to 6 feet when in flower. A clumping grass about as broad as tall except when flowering.
Growth Rate: Fast.
Range:
Southeastern United States south to the Monroe County Keys; Bahamas. In the Monroe County Keys, apparently disjunct from Miami-Dade County to the pine rocklands of Big Pine Key and nearby islands. Probably introduced on Key Largo, where a weed of disturbed sites.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of Postal Code Areas of IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Habitats: Pinelands and disturbed sites.
Soils: Moist, well-drained sandy or limestone soils, without humus.
Nutritional Requirements: Low; it grows in nutrient poor soils.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: Moderate; grows near salt water, but is protected from direct salt spray by other vegetation.
Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Brown inflorescence.
Flower Characteristics: Semi-showy inflorescence.
Flowering Season: Summer-fall.
Fruit: Inconspicuous caryopsis.
Wildlife and Ecology: Possible larval host plant for Delaware skipper (Anatrytone logan), Georgia satyr (Neonympha areolata), neamathla skipper (Nastra neamathla), swarthy skipper (Nastra lherminier) and twin-spot skipper (Oligoria maculata) butterflies.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.
Comments: Usually best cut back after flowering. Spreads from seed in the garden and can become weedy.
