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Species
Paspalum vaginatum Sw.
IUCN
NCBI
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For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.
Habitat and Ecology
Paspalum vaginatum is a rhizomatous, stoloniferous perennial, often forming large colonies. It occurs in sandy seashores, swamps, along the margins of slow-moving streams. Its native habitat includes sand and mud near the seashore and in swampy ecosystems (Barnard 1969).
Systems
- Freshwater
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Rights holder/Author | © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/177401 |
In managing Seashore paspalum for forage, it is recommended that less than 50% of the present year’s production by weight be grazed. In addition, a 90-day suspension of grazing is implemented to improve the strength of the crop and to obtain a forage reserve. Overgrazing is usually not a problem because this forage grows flat on the ground.
In managing Seashore paspalum for landscape or golf courses, a low level of Nitrogen, about 3 to 4 pounds per 1000 square feet per year, is recommended. Fertilizer should be applied during the fall to prevent scalping. Studies have proven that it produces higher shoot densities when mowed at lower heights. This in turn provides a better playing surface and an attractive appearance.
Seashore paspalum is considered invasive to the Hapuna Golf Course in Hawaii where they are using Bermuda grasses. Seashore paspalum is out-competing their established Bermuda turf. They will be conducting a three-year study on how to get seashore paspalum off their course.
Seashore paspalum is vulnerable to insects, such as armyworms and webworms eating and damaging the foliage.
Annuals; culm long creeping, stoloniferous, flowering culm 6-60 cm tall, nodes glabrous. Blade 2.5-15 cm long, 3-8 mm wide; sheath longer than internode, often keeled, margins membranaceous; ligule membranaceous, truncate, 0.5-1 mm long. Racemes usually 2, conjugate or closely approximate; rachis 1-2 mm wide, 3-angular, often zigzag. Spikelet solitary, imbricate, elliptic, 3.5-4 mm long; lower glume absent; upper glume and lower lemma equal, thin, weakly 5-veined; lower lemma often transversely undulate; upper lemma 2.5-3 mm long, slightly concave-convex, with a tuft of short hairs at apex; upper palea ca. 2/3 as long as upper lemma; anther ca. 1.5 mm long.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1050&taxon_id=200025849 |
Grasslands and wastelands
Seashore paspalum is used as a forage food for cattle and horses. It is grazed from March to November and the green stolons are eaten during the winter months. It is also used by wild geese for feed.
Paspalum vaginatum is used in commercial and residential landscaping. This plant has been very successful for golf courses all around the world, especially in the coastal states and in other areas near brackish or high saline waters. It is considerably more salt tolerant than other standard golf course turf so it can be irrigated with salt water, which saves an enormous amount of money used in the desalinization of the water used for irrigation. Because seashore paspalum grows low to the ground,
it has a high tolerance for traffic and wear. It grows rapidly which provides a thick turf and competes against weeds when maintained properly.
Paspalum vaginatum has other important uses such as erosion control, wetland restorations, and site reclamation on oil and gas well sites.
Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Rhizomes present, Stolons or runners present, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems mat or turf forming, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes solid or spongy, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath hairy at summit, throat, or collar, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade margins folded, involute, or conduplicate, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Leaf blades scabr ous, roughened, or wrinkled, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence with 2-10 branches, Inflorescence branches 1-sided, Inflorescence branches paired or digitate at a single node, Inflorescence branches paired racemes, V-shaped, Rachis dilated, flat, central axis to which spikelets are attached, Rachis angular, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets sessile or subsessile, Spikelets dorsally compressed or terete, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelet with 1 fertile floret and 1-2 sterile florets, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating below the glumes, Spikelets secund, in rows on one side of rachis, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes completely absent or reduced to cuplike structur e, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glume equal to or longer than spikelet, Glumes 3 nerved, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma 3 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma awnless, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea shorter than lemma, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Compiled from several sources by Dr. David Bogler, Missouri Botanical Garden in collaboration with the USDA NRCS NPDC |
Source | http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PAVA |
Depth range based on 6 specimens in 1 taxon.
Environmental ranges
Depth range (m): 1 - 1
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.
License | http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Ocean Biogeographic Information System |
Source | http://www.iobis.org/mapper/?taxon_id=787279 |
Paspalum vaginatum is a species of grass known by many names, including seashore paspalum, biscuit grass, saltwater couch, silt grass, and swamp couch in the English language, grama de costa, grama de mar, gramilla blanca, and gramón in Spanish, herbe rampante in French, and hai que bai (Chinese: 海雀稗; pinyin: hăiquèbài) in Chinese.[1] It is native to the Americas, where it grows in tropical and subtropical regions.[2] It is found throughout the other tropical areas of the world, where it is an introduced species and sometimes an invasive weed.[1] It is also cultivated as a turfgrass in many places.[3]
This is a perennial grass with rhizomes and/or stolons. The stems grow 10 to 79 centimeters tall. The leaf blades are 10 to 19 centimeters long and may be hairless to slightly hairy.[4] They are usually blue-green in color.[5] The panicle is usually a pair of branches up to 7.9 centimeters long; there is sometimes a third branch below the pair. The branches are lined with oval to lance-shaped spikelets which grow pressed against the branches, making the panicle narrow.[4] This species is similar to bermudagrass.[5][6] It spreads by its rhizomes and stolons, forming a thick turf.[5][7]
In the wild this species grows in salt marshes and brackish marshes.[4]
This grass has been bred into cultivars which are used for golf course turf and other landscaping projects. It forms a higher quality turf than bermudagrass in poor conditions, such as wet soils and low light levels, and with fewer nitrogen soil amendments.[2][6] It can grow in lawns that receive rain on 250 days per year, and it can survive being waterlogged or submerged for several days at a time.[3] It tolerates foot traffic.[7] The main advantage of this grass is that it is very salt-tolerant. It can be irrigated with non-potable water, such as greywater, an important advantage in a time when there are increasing restrictions on water use.[6] The grass can even be irrigated with saltwater.[6][7] The grass will be lower in quality than that irrigated with potable water, but it survives.[6] This species has "filled a niche in America", being a better grass to use on turf next to the ocean in places that receive sea spray.[3] "It has the highest salt tolerance of all turfgrasses."[3] It is also more competitive against weeds than similar grasses.[3] Weeds can be controlled by the application of saltwater, in which weeds will die and the grass will survive.[8]
There are many cultivars bred for various uses. These cultivars are highly variable. For example, fine-textured types are used for golf courses, while coarser grass is selected for roadside revegetation.[6] The best-known and oldest cultivar may be 'Adalayd'[3] a grass with a similar texture and blue-green color to Kentucky bluegrass.[2] The cultivar 'Aloha' is a dark green grass used for golf courses and athletic fields. 'Salam', the most common cultivar in Hawaii, is another dark green type suitable for golf courses.[6] The leaves of 'Salam' are glossy on the undersides, giving the field a striped look when it is mowed.[7] 'Seadwarf' is a bright green type that is more resistant to a grass disease called dollar spot than other cultivars.[6]
There are other uses for the grass, including erosion control in sandy coastal areas, its native habitat. It can be used in phytoremediation when the soils are high in heavy metals.[5] It has been shown to survive pollution with crude oil.[9] It can be used to feed livestock and some wild herbivores will graze it.[7]
Wikispecies has information related to: Paspalum vaginatum |
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References[edit]
- ^ a b Paspalum vaginatum. Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk.
- ^ a b c Duble, R. L. Seashore Paspalum. Aggie Horticulture. Texas A&M System.
- ^ a b c d e f Ralish, G. Paspalum vaginatum: An alternative to bermudagrass. University of Florida Turf Science.
- ^ a b c Paspalum vaginatum. Grass Manual Treatment.
- ^ a b c d Paspalum vaginatum. USDA NRCS Plant Fact Sheet.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Brosnan, J. T. and J. Deputy. Seashore Paspalum. Cooperative Extension, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
- ^ a b c d e Paspalum vaginatum. USDA NRCS Plant Guide.
- ^ Zulkaliph, N. A., et al. (2011). Use of saline water for weed control in seashore Paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum). Australian Journal of Crop Science 5 523-30.
- ^ Bamidele, J. F. and A. Igiri. (2011). Growth of seashore paspalum, (Paspalum vaginatum L) in soil contaminated with crude petroleum oil. J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manage. 15(2) 303-306.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paspalum_vaginatum&oldid=589448063 |
Perennial with short rhizome and long stolons. Culms solitary or tufted, many-noded, 10–50 cm tall. Leaf sheaths imbricate, often keeled, margins membranous; leaf blades distichous, linear, rather stiffly ascending, 2.5–15 × 0.3–0.8 cm, apex acute; ligule 0.5–1 mm. Inflorescence of (1–)2(–3) racemes arising together at culm apex; racemes 2–5 cm, usually closely approximate when young, later spreading; spikelets single, in 2 rows; rachis 1–2 mm wide. Spikelets pale brownish green, narrowly lanceolate-oblong, strongly flattened, 3.5–4 mm, acute; lower glume absent or rarely a tiny vestige; upper glume thinly papery, weakly 5-veined, midvein often suppressed, glabrous; lower lemma resembling upper glume; upper lemma pale green, 2.5–3 mm, shorter than spikelet, cartilaginous, apex minutely pubescent. Fl. and fr. Jun–Sep.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200025849 |