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

General Landscape Uses: Not recommended for general landscape use.

Ecological Restoration Notes: Somewhat weedy, often recruiting on its own. Use only with caution.

Availability: Not cultivated.

Description: An annual grass.

Dimensions: Typically 3-6 feet in height. Much taller than broad.

Growth Rate: Fast.

Range: Eastern North America and the West Indies.

 Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.

Habitats: A wide variety of freshwater wetland ecosystems. It often recruits following disturbance.

Soils: Wet to moist, moderately well-drained sandy soils, without humusy top layer, acid to alkaline pH.

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: High; can tolerate moderate amounts of salt wind without significant injury.

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

Light Requirements: Full sun.

Flowering Season: All year.

Fruit: inconspicuous caryopsis.