Natives For Your Neighborhood
Conservation of rare plants, animals, and ecosystems

General Landscape Uses: Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations.

Availability: Grown by one or two native plant nurseries in South Florida.

Description: Large herbaceous grass.

Dimensions: Typically 3-6 feet in height; to 10 feet when in flower. Usually taller than broad.

Growth Rate: Moderate.

Range: Eastern United States west to Texas and south to Miami-Dade and Collier counties; Cuba.

 Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.

 Map of ZIP codes with habitat recommendations from the Monroe County Keys north to Martin and Charlotte counties.

Habitats: Marshes and marl prairies.

Soils: Wet to moist, poorly drained to moderately well-drained sandy or calcareous soils, with or without humus.

Nutritional Requirements: Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.

Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate flooding by salt or brackish water.

Salt Wind Tolerance: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.

Drought Tolerance: Low; requires moist to wet soils and is intolerant of long periods of drought.

Light Requirements: Full sun.

Flower Color: Brownish inflorescence.

Flower Characteristics: Semi-showy inflorescence.

Flowering Season: Fall.

Fruit: Inconspicuous caryopsis.

Wildlife and Ecology: Larval host plant for clouded skipper (Lerema accius) butterflies.

Comments: See also a 2022 post on the Treasure Coast Natives blog about the genetics and pollination of Saccharum giganteum.