General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations.
Ecological Restoration Notes: A common understory grass in a wide variety of pinelands and prairies.
Availability:
Grown by enthusiasts.
Description: Small herbaceous grass.
Dimensions: About 6-12 inches in height. Taller than broad.
Growth Rate: Fast.
Range:
Eastern and central United States west to Texas and south to the Monroe County Keys; West Indies, Mexico, Central America and northern South America. In the Monroe County Keys, disjunct from Miami-Dade County to the pine rocklands of Big Pine Key.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of suggested ZIP codes from South Florida north to southern Brevard, Osceola, Polk, and Pasco counties.
Map of ZIP codes with habitat recommendations from the Monroe County Keys north to Martin and Charlotte counties.
Habitats: Pinelands.
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: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.
Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Brownish inflorescence.
Flower Characteristics: Inconspicuous.
Flowering Season: Spring-fall.
Fruit: Inconspicuous caryopsis.
Wildlife and Ecology: In central Florida, it is the larval host plant for tawny-edged skipper (Potites themistocles).
