Tripsacum dactyloides | |
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Detail of staminate and pistillate flowers | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Subfamily: | Panicoideae |
Genus: | Tripsacum |
Species: | T. dactyloides |
Binomial name | |
Tripsacum dactyloides | |
Synonyms [2] | |
Tripsacum dactyloides, commonly called eastern gamagrass, [3] or Fakahatchee grass, is a warm-season, sod-forming bunch grass. [4] It is widespread in the Western Hemisphere, native from the eastern United States to northern South America. [5] Its natural habitat is in sunny moist areas, such as along watercourses and in wet prairies. [5] In some areas, it has adapted well to disturbed conditions. [6]
Eastern gamagrass is a widely cultivated for its use as forage.
Usually, gamagrass grows to a height of 2–3 feet (0.61–0.91 m), but it can be as high as 8–10 ft (2.4–3.0 m). It is one of the species in the family Poaceae, tribe Andropogoneae, and subtribe Tripsacinae, the same subtribe of the Zea mays corn species. [7]
Roots: Eastern gamagrass has several short, fibrous, thick rhizomes. [8] Eastern gamagrass can survive droughts and floods for a long time because of its rigid and thick rhizomatous roots which firmly holding the plant upright. [9] The deep and hollow roots of the plant branch out from lower nodes.
Leaves: Since the grass has short internodes, all the leaves grow out from the plant's base. Each clump's diameter can increase up to 4 ft (1.2 m). [8] The stems and leaves have a purplish color and are glabrous. The glabrous leaf-blade is around 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) long, 9–35 millimetres (0.35–1.38 in) wide and has hairs at the base. The distinct midrib leaves of gamagrass can grow up to a height of 12–24 inches (300–610 mm) and a width of 0.375–0.75 in (9.5–19.1 mm). [4]
Flowers: The flowers of eastern gamagrass, which blooms from late March to early October, consist of spikes made up of female and male spikelets. It has separate female and male flowers on the same individual making it a monoecious plant. The inflorescence of the terminal axillary bud is 10–30 centimetres (3.9–11.8 in) long. The type of inflorescence is usually a single raceme or a panicle with a combination of two to three unisexual single racemes. [10]
Fruits: The seed-producing season of the grass is from June to September. The seeds mature disproportionally and production is commonly slow. [11] The joints of the seedhead break into two as the fruit matures and each seed-bearing part contains one seed. [7] The size of the seedhead can range from 6 to 10 inches. Usually, spikelets of grass assist reproduction by holding the grain and fruit. When the mature female spikelets are destroyed they separate like pop-beads.
Tripsacum dactyloides is widely spread throughout the United States, from Connecticut to Nebraska and south to Florida and Texas. It is also found as far south as South America, in Paraguay and Brazil. The plant has been cultivated outside of its native range in the southwestern United States and elsewhere. [7]
Tripsacum dactyloides is a larval host for Cymaenes tripunctus , and Lerema accius . Its foliage also provides food for the larvae of Anisostena bicolor , Anisostena kansana , Sphenophorus maidis and Chilophaga tripsaci . Bison, elk, and other large herbivores grazed on the foliage. [12] Small mammals, birds and lizards use Tripsacum dactyloides as cover. The fruit is eaten by deer. [13]
The best growing conditions for eastern gamagrass are provided by wet land, such as floodplains along riverbanks. Moreover, moist, nonalkaline lowland areas will maintain the growth of gamagrass because the land can endure a longer time under flood conditions. [7] The soil that is most suitable for eastern gamagrass is moist, little drained fertile soil that has an annual precipitation of 900–1,500 mm (35–59 in) and a pH of 5.5 to 7.5.
Tripsacum dactyloides can tolerate a maximum of three weeks of flooding without dying. The deep roots, which extend to around 4.5 m (15 ft) underground, are the key structure that allows gamagrass to tolerate drought. [7]
Eastern gamagrass was widely considered a high class feedcrop among the early settlers of the United States. However, it started to disappear because of grain crops and cattle grazing. Around the late 1980s and early 1990s, people started to pay attention again to eastern gamagrass as a forage in summer, since it is productive, palatable and easily digestible by almost all cattle. For these reasons, gamagrass is ideally suitable for feed crops, including hay and pasture forage for which rotation of grazing seasons is controlled. It is used as forage because the growing season of the grass is earlier compared to other warm-season grasses and later compared to cool-season grass and legumes. [7] Eastern gamagrass requires a moderate amount of carbohydrates stored in the leaf bases for regrowth. If the plant is grazed before carbohydrate accumulates in the leaf bases, the plant will die from overgrazing. [7]
Gamagrass is also suitable as a wildlife habitat. Hollow space in the middle of dispersed bundles and the tented canopy created by the leaves growing from the rhizomes and dropping into the middle make the plant an attractive habitat for wildlife. For example, the empty space in the middle of bundles is large enough for wild animals like quails and prairie chickens to build nests. Moreover, the grass provides good cover during the winter for grassland sparrows. [9]
Gamagrass grows from mid-April to mid-September. This is a little earlier in the year compared to other native warm-season grasses like big bluestem ( Andropogon gerardi ) and switch grass ( Panicum virgatum ). The high relative yield of gamagrass in summer is the major reason why this grass is a good feedcrop when cool-season grasses ("tall fescue") are undeveloped. [8]
Hybrids have been created by crossing Zea mays and the tetraploid (2n = 72) form of T. dactyloides. [14] Genetic analysis in 2016 showed that at least three subspecies are distinct in speciation two diploid forms (2n = 36) var. meridionale (referred to as MR), and another subspecies mentioned only as DD, this alongside the tetraploid form referred to as DL. [15] Tripsacum dactyloides var. meridionale is mentioned to be a subspecies most common in South America, having a morphological difference with its North American counterpart in that it has 'subdigitate recemes usually appressed with the apical male sections typically curved'. [16] More genetics work is needed to better differentiate subspecies.
Panicum virgatum, commonly known as switchgrass, is a perennial warm season bunchgrass native to North America, where it occurs naturally from 55°N latitude in Canada southwards into the United States and Mexico. Switchgrass is one of the dominant species of the central North American tallgrass prairie and can be found in remnant prairies, in native grass pastures, and naturalized along roadsides. It is used primarily for soil conservation, forage production, game cover, as an ornamental grass, in phytoremediation projects, fiber, electricity, heat production, for biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and more recently as a biomass crop for ethanol and butanol.
Dactylis is a genus of Eurasian and North African plants in the bluegrass subfamily within the grass family. Dactylis is native to North Africa, they are found throughout the world, and are an invasive species. They are known in English as cock's-foot or cocksfoot grasses, also sometimes as orchard grasses.
Echinochloa crus-galli is a type of wild grass originating from tropical Asia that was formerly classified as a type of panicum grass. It is commonly known as cockspur, barnyard millet, Japanese millet, water grass, common barnyard grass, or simply "barnyard grass". This plant can grow to 1.5 m in height and has long, flat leaves which are often purplish at the base. Most stems are upright, but some will spread out over the ground. Stems are flattened at the base. The seed heads are a distinctive feature, often purplish, with large millet-like seeds in crowded spikelets.
Bouteloua gracilis, the blue grama, is a long-lived, warm-season (C4) perennial grass, native to North America.
Dactylis glomerata is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae, known as cock's-foot, also colloquially as orchard grass, or cat grass (due to its popularity for use with domestic cats). It is a cool-season perennial C3 tufted grass native throughout most of Europe, temperate Asia, and northern Africa.
Bouteloua dactyloides, commonly known as buffalograss or buffalo grass, is a North American prairie grass native to Canada, Mexico, and the United States. It is a short grass found mainly on the High Plains and is co-dominant with blue grama over most of the shortgrass prairie. Buffalo grass in North America is not the same species of grass commonly known as "buffalo" in Australia.
Hordeum murinum is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae, commonly known as wall barley or false barley. It is a close relative of cultivated barley.
Pseudoroegneria spicata is a species of perennial bunchgrass known by the common name bluebunch wheatgrass. It is native to western North America.
Bromus ciliatus is a species of brome grass known by the common name fringed brome. It is native to most of North America, including most of Canada, most of the United States except for some portions of the South, and northern Mexico. It is a plant of many habitats, including temperate coniferous forest. The specific epithet ciliatus is Latin for "ciliate", referring to the delicate hairs of the leaf blades.
Chloris gayana is a species of grass known by the common name Rhodes grass. It is native to Africa but it can be found throughout the tropical and subtropical world as a naturalized species.
Elymus lanceolatus is a species of grass known by the common names thickspike wheatgrass and streamside wheatgrass. It is native to North America, where it is widespread and abundant in much of Canada and the western and central United States. There are two subspecies, subsp. lanceolatus occurring throughout the species' range and subsp. psammophilus occurring in the Great Lakes region.
Panicum repens is a species of grass known by many common names, including torpedo grass, creeping panic, panic rampant, couch panicum, wainaku grass, quack grass, dog-tooth grass, and bullet grass. Its exact native range is obscure. Sources suggest that the grass is native to "Africa and/or Asia", "Europe or Australia", "Eurasia", "Australia", "Europe, Asia, and Africa", or other specific regions, including the Mediterranean, Israel, and Argentina. It is present in many places as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. It has been called "one of the world's worst weeds."
Psathyrostachys juncea is a species of grass known by the common name Russian wildrye. It was formerly classified as Elymus junceus. It is native to Russia and China, and has been introduced to other parts of the world, such as Canada and the United States. Psathyrostachys juncea is a great source of food for grazing animals, as it has high nutrition value in its dense basal leaves, even in the late summer and autumn seasons. This species can grow and prosper in many harsh environments, making it an ideal candidate for improvement as it can grow in areas were farming is difficult. This species is a drought-resistant forage plant and can survive during the cool seasons. It is also a cross-pollinator and is self-sterile. This means that P. juncea cannot self-fertilize; it must find another plant of the same species with which to exchange gametes. Self-sterilization increases the genetic diversity of a species.
Tripsacum floridanum is a species of grass in the family Poaceae known by the common name Florida gamagrass. It is native to Cuba and the US state of Florida.
Panicum anceps is a species of grass known by the common name beaked panicgrass. It is native to the southeastern United States, where it occurs as far north as New Jersey and as far west as Kansas and Texas.
Eragrostis pilosa is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is native to Eurasia and Africa. It may or may not be native to North America. It is widely introduced, and it is a common weed in many areas.
Hyparrhenia rufa is a species of grass known by the common names jaraguá, jaraguá grass, and giant thatching grass. It is native to Africa and it is widespread in the world as a cultivated forage and fodder for livestock and a naturalized and sometimes invasive species.
Digitaria eriantha, commonly known as digitgrass or Pangola-grass, is a grass grown in tropical and subtropical climates. It grows relatively well in various soils, but grows especially well in moist soils. It is tolerant to droughts, water lodging, suppresses weeds and grows relatively quickly after grazing. This grass demonstrates great potential for farmers in Africa in subtropical and tropical climates, mostly for livestock feed.
Zoysia japonica is a species of creeping, mat-forming, short perennial grass that grows by both rhizomes and stolons. It is native to the coastal grasslands of southeast Asia and Indonesia. The United States was first introduced to Z. japonica in 1895. It received its first import from the Chinese region of Manchuria. Today, Z. japonica has become one of the most widely used species of turfgrass in the United States and other countries worldwide such as in Brazil, serving as a close and cheaper alternative to bermudagrass.
Tripsacum lanceolatum is a species of grass with the common name of Mexican gamagrass, though as with many common names it doesn't accurately describe it fully since it grows far outside Mexico as well. T. lanceolatum is a perennial bunchgrass as most species in its genus are, that grows in a Tropical Dry biome. Considered LC by IUCN.