Eragrostis elliottii S. Wats. Family: Poaceae Synonym(s): Poa nitida, Eragrostis macropoda, Eragrostis nitida Common name(s): wind dancer, field lovegrass, blue lovegrass, Tallahassee sunset, blue wisp

Answer

Score

1.01

Is the species highly domesticated? (If answer is 'no' then go to question 2.01)

n

0

1.02

Has the species become naturalized where grown?

1.03

Does the species have weedy races?

2.01

Species suited to tropical or subtropical climate(s) (0-low; 1-intermediate; 2-high) – If island is primarily wet habitat, then substitute “wet tropical” for “tropical or subtropical”

2

2.02

Quality of climate match data (0-low; 1-intermediate; 2-high) see appendix 2

2

2.03

Broad climate suitability (environmental versatility)

y

1

2.04

Native or naturalized in regions with tropical or subtropical climates

y

1

2.05

Does the species have a history of repeated introductions outside its natural range? y=-2

3.01

Naturalized beyond native range y = 1*multiplier (see Append 2), n= question 2.05

y

2

3.02

Garden/amenity/disturbance weed y = 1*multiplier (see Append 2)

n

0

3.03

Agricultural/forestry/horticultural weed y = 2*multiplier (see Append 2)

n

0

3.04

Environmental weed y = 2*multiplier (see Append 2)

n

0

3.05

Congeneric weed y = 1*multiplier (see Append 2)

y

2

4.01

Produces spines, thorns or burrs

n

0

4.02

Allelopathic

n

0

4.03

Parasitic

n

0

4.04

Unpalatable to grazing animals

n

-1

4.05

Toxic to animals

n

0

4.06

Host for recognized pests and pathogens

n

0

4.07

Causes allergies or is otherwise toxic to humans

n

0

4.08

Creates a fire hazard in natural ecosystems

4.09

Is a shade tolerant plant at some stage of its life cycle

n

0

4.10

Tolerates a wide range of soil conditions (or limestone conditions if not a volcanic island)

y

1

4.11

Climbing or smothering growth habit

n

0

4.12

Forms dense thickets

5.01

Aquatic

n

0

5.02

Grass

y

1

5.03

Nitrogen fixing woody plant

n

0

5.04

Geophyte (herbaceous with underground storage organs -- bulbs, corms, or tubers)

n

0

6.01

Evidence of substantial reproductive failure in native habitat

n

0

6.02

Produces viable seed.

y

1

6.03

Hybridizes naturally

6.04

Self-compatible or apomictic

6.05

Requires specialist pollinators

n

0

6.06

Reproduction by vegetative fragmentation

y

1

6.07

Minimum generative time (years) 1 year = 1, 2 or 3 years = 0, 4+ years = -1

7.01

Propagules likely to be dispersed unintentionally (plants growing in heavily trafficked areas)

y

1

7.02

Propagules dispersed intentionally by people

y

1

7.03

Propagules likely to disperse as a produce contaminant

n

-1

7.04

Propagules adapted to wind dispersal

y

1

7.05

Propagules water dispersed

7.06

Propagules bird dispersed

7.07

Propagules dispersed by other animals (externally)

n

-1

7.08

Propagules survive passage through the gut

8.01

Prolific seed production (>1000/m2)

y

1

8.02

Evidence that a persistent propagule bank is formed (>1 yr)

8.03

Well controlled by herbicides

8.04

Tolerates, or benefits from, mutilation, cultivation, or fire

y

1

8.05

Effective natural enemies present locally (e.g. introduced biocontrol agents)

Total score:

12

Notes

Reference

1.01

No, this species has not been in cultivation for at least 20 generations nor has it diverged from wild varieties.

1.02

Answer not scored because conditions for scoring (1.01 must = y) were not met

1.03

Answer not scored because conditions for scoring (1.01 must = y) were not met

2.01

(1)"Low grassy places along the coast, Florida to South Carolina" (2)"native to the Southeast [United States]" (3)"Eragrostis elliottii, commonly known as love grass, is native to certain open woodlands, sandy areas and prairies in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina." (4)Native to FL, GA, LA, MO [found to be adventive in MO see 3.01], MS, NC, SC, TX Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

(1)Chapman, A.W. 1897. Flora of the southern United States. University Press: John Wilson & Son. Cambridge, MA. 655 pages (2)Kiefer, L. Webpage: Ornamental Grasses at Triple Oaks Nursery and Herb Garden in Franklinville, New Jersey. Accessed 2008. http://www.tripleoaks.com/plants.php?special=grasses (3)Missouri Botanical Garden. Webpage: Kemper Center for Home Gardening. Accessed 2008. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/serviceplantfinder.shtml (4)USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Webpage: Information and Reports from the PLANTS Database. Accessed 2008. http://plants.usda.gov/topics.html

2.02

Native range is well defined

2.03

(1)"Eragrostis elliottii has been found in the following 9 habitats: Coastal Strand, Disturbed Upland, Dry Prairie Marl Prairie Mesic Flatwoods Pine Rockland Scrubby Flatwoods Wet Flatwoods Wet Prairie" (2)"Maximum cold hardiness is unknown, but it has survived for 4 years in zone 6 Landenberg. … USDA Hardiness Zone 6-10" (3)"Hardiness zones USDA Zone 6 to USDA Zone 11" (4)"USDA Zones 7 - 9" (5)"USDA Zone: 6 to 9" (6)"Probably hardy to USDA Zone 7 (0° F)"

(1)Gann, G.D., K.A. Bradley and S.W. Woodmansee. 2001-2008. The Floristic Inventory of South Florida Database Online. The Institute for Regional Conservation, Miami http://regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/plantlist.asp (2)Hendricks, D. and S. Castorani. Webpage: Eragrostis elliotii Blue Love Grass from North Creek Nurseries. Accessed 2008.
http://www.northcreeknurseries.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/371/index.htm (3)Henry, J. 2008. Portrait Tag Eragrostis elliottii (4)Kiefer, L. Webpage: Ornamental Grasses at Triple Oaks Nursery and Herb Garden in Franklinville, New Jersey. Accessed 2008. http://www.tripleoaks.com/plants.php?special=grasses (5)Missouri Botanical Garden. Webpage: Kemper Center for Home Gardening. Accessed 2008. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/serviceplantfinder.shtml (6)San Marcos Growers. Webpage: Eragrostis elliottii plant Profile. Accessed 2008. http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=2850

2.04

(1)"Natural range: Southern U.S. to South America" (2)"Distribution and habitat•Eragrostis elliottii is native to the Flora region and grows in sandy pinelands and live-oak woodlands on the coastal plain; 0-150 m. Its range extends from the southeastern United States through the West Indies and Gulf coast of Mexico to Central and South America." (3)"This is a selection of Elliott's Lovegrass made in Tallahassee Florida. The species is a warm season grass, native to southeastern U.S (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, North and South Carolina)" (4)Distribution: NW Pacific Caroline Islands; South Central USA Texas; Southeastern USA Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina; Mexico Northeast, Gulf, Northwest, Southwest, Southeast; Mesoamerica Belize; Carribean Cuba, Dominica, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico.

(1)Bradford, J. and G. Rogers. Web database: Grasses of Palm Beach and Martin Counties, Florida. Accessed 2008. http://frontpage.floridagrasses.org/ (2)Peterson, P.M. and J. Valdes-Reyna. 2005. Eragrostis (Poaceae: Chloridoideae: Eragrostideae: Eragrostidinae) from Northeastern Mexico. SIDA Contributions to Botany 21(3): 1363-1418 (3)San Marcos Growers. Webpage: Eragrostis elliottii plant Profile. Accessed 2008. http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=2850 (4)W.D. Clayton, K.T. Harman and H. Williamson. Website: GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora. Accessed 2008. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Richmond, Surrey, UK. http://www.kew.org/data/grassesdb.html

2.05

Question not scored because requirements not met (3.01 must = No)

3.01

(1)Range extention in Texas "Brazos Co.: locally abundant in sandy gully, 5 2 k m west of Wellborn, 25 April 1974, Hatch, Clark and Gould 1678 ( T A E S ). Previously reported in the extreme southeast Texas Gulf Prairies and the Pineywoods. This extends the distribution of range into the Post Oak Savannah vegetation type." (2)Listed as a plant that "will naturalize" when planted in Missouri (3)Early record of this species in Missouri: "M 3183, St. Louis Ave. Fr. Yd., 4 Oct. 1969, 1 specimen. Determined by L. H. Harvey. According to Harvey, its range includes the Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain states; also, no other reports about its occurrence as waif in railroad yards are known."

(1)Hatch, S.L. and C.A. Clark. 1977. New Plant Distribution and Extension Records for Texas and the United States. The Southwestern Naturalist 22(1): 139-140 (2)Missouri Botanical Garden. Webpage: Kemper Center for Home Gardening. Accessed 2008. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/serviceplantfinder.shtml (3)Muhlenbach, V. 1979. Contributions to the Synanthropic (Adventive) Flora of the Railroads in St. Louis, Missouri U.S.A. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 66(1): 1-108

3.02

No evidence

3.03

No evidence

3.04

No evidence

3.05

(1)"the interesting distribution of Eragrostis pilosa as a weed places it in most coastal countries of all of the agricultural areas of the world … This weed is found in more than 30 crops of almost every type grown by man in more than 50 countries. It is a serious weed of cotton in Brazil and of rice in Indonesia. It is a principal weed of barley and wheat in Korea; of upland rice in the Dominican Republic; of sugarcane in Taiwan; of several dryland crops of India; of pastures in Italy; and of vineyards and other crops in the Ukraine." (2)Species of Eragrotis prohibited entry under a country's quarentine regulations: aethiopica, airoides, atrovirens, curvula, diarrhena, ferruginea, lugens, malayana, plana, tremula, viscosa, xylanica

(1)Holm, L., J. Doll, E. Holm, J. Pancho and J. Herberger. 1997. World Weeds: Natural Histories and Distribution. John Wiley & Sons Inc. New York, USA (2)Randall, R.P. Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW). Accessed 2008. http://www.hear.org/gcw/scientificnames/

4.01

(1)"Perennial bunchgrass or annual, caespitose, erect, simple, glabrous" (2)"Leaf-sheaths glabrous on surface."

(1)Quattrocchi, U. 2006. CRC World Dictionary of Grasses. Taylor & Francis Group. 2408 pages (2)W.D. Clayton, K.T. Harman and H. Williamson. Website: GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora. Accessed 2008. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Richmond, Surrey, UK. http://www.kew.org/data/grassesdb.html

4.02

No evidence

4.03

Genera is not parasitic (1)

(1)USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service Staff. 2008. Parasitic Plant Genera List

4.04

Palitability of this particular species is unknown, however palatability of several other Eragrostis species suggests it is likely palatable. Evidence follows:(1) "The relative palatability of 20 varieties of E. curvula, and 1 variety of E. plana, Chloris gayana and Digitaria smutsii were compared with one another. Chloris and Digitaria were found to be the most palatable. Of the Eragrostis varieties studied, the robusta green, robusta intermediate and robusta blue were the most palatable, chloromelas varieties and E. plana being intermediate and the curvula varieties the least palatable." (2)The following Eragrostis species were all variously palatable to camels: cumingii, dielsii, eriopoda, falcata, acunaria, leptocarpa and setifolia

(1)Leigh, J.H. 1961. The Relative Palatability of Various Varieties of Weeping Lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula (Schrad) Nees). Grass and Forage Science 16(2): 135-140 (2)Dorges, B. and J. Heucke. 2003. The Palatability of Central Australian Plant Species to Camels. Nothern Territory Technical Note 116: 1-8

4.05

No evidence

4.06

(1)"Problems: No serious insect or disease problems."

(1)Missouri Botanical Garden. Webpage: Kemper Center for Home Gardening. Accessed 2008.http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/serviceplantfinder.shtml

4.07

No evidence

4.08

Unknown

4.09

(1)"Grow in full sun average to dry soil with good drainage. Water well on planting and regularly until established. Drought tolerant" (2)"Plant in full sun" (3)"Exposure Full Sun" (4)"Sun: Full sun … Eragrostis elliottii, commonly known as love grass, is native to certain open woodlands, sandy areas and prairies in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. " (5)"Plant in full sun to light shade in well drained soil." (6)"Light Exposure Full sun - Mostly sunny"

(1)Hendricks, D. and S. Castorani. Webpage: Eragrostis elliotii Blue Love Grass from North Creek Nurseries. Accessed 2008. http://www.northcreeknurseries.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/371/index.htm (2)Henry, J. 2008. Portrait Tag Eragrostis elliottii (3)Kiefer, L. Webpage: Ornamental Grasses at Triple Oaks Nursery and Herb Garden in Franklinville, New Jersey. Accessed 2008. http://www.tripleoaks.com/plants.php?special=grasses (4)Missouri Botanical Garden. Webpage: Kemper Center for Home Gardening. Accessed 2008. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/serviceplantfinder.shtml (5)San Marcos Growers. Webpage: Eragrostis elliottii plant Profile. Accessed 2008. http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=2850 (6)Webpage: Sunlight Gardens Plant Search. Accessed 2008. http://www.sunlightgardens.com/advanced_search.html

4.10

(1)"Best grown in organically rich, dry to medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun. Plants do particularly well in sandy soils." (2)"Moist sandy soil" (3)"it often grows in areas with serpentine soils." [serpentine = soil conditions such as a low calcium-magnesium ratio, lack of essential nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, and high concentrations of the heavy metals that are more common in ultramafic rocks] (4)Grows in average, sandy or clay soils

(1)Missouri Botanical Garden. Webpage: Kemper Center for Home Gardening. Accessed 2008. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/serviceplantfinder.shtml (2)Nash, G.V. 1903. A Preliminary Enumeration of the Grasses of Porto Rico. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 30(7): 369-389 (3)Weaver, R.E. and P.J. Note Ref: Anderson. 2006. Botany Secttion, Tri-ology 45(4): 1-11 (4)Webpage: Sunlight Gardens Plant Search. Accessed 2008. http://www.sunlightgardens.com/advanced_search.html

4.11

Not a vine or woody liana.

4.12

Unknown growth habit suggests a thicket forming species (1)"Perennial bunchgrass or annual, caespitose [dense growth], erect, simple, glabrous" (2)"forms nice clumps of powder-blue foliage that rises to about 18 inches tall with clumps that spread outward slowly with short rhizomes." (3)"HABIT Perennial; caespitose [forming a dense turf]"

(1)Quattrocchi, U. 2006. CRC World Dictionary of Grasses. Taylor & Francis Group. 2408 pages (2)San Marcos Growers. Webpage: Eragrostis elliottii plant Profile. Accessed 2008.
http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=2850 (3)W.D. Clayton, K.T. Harman and H. Williamson. Website: GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora. Accessed 2008. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Richmond, Surrey, UK. http://www.kew.org/data/grassesdb.html

5.01

Terrestrial (1)

(1)Gann, G.D., K.A. Bradley and S.W. Woodmansee. 2001-2008. The Floristic Inventory of South Florida Database Online. The Institute for Regional Conservation, Miami http://regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/plantlist.asp

5.02

In the family Poaceae (1)

(1)W.D. Clayton, K.T. Harman and H. Williamson. Website: GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora. Accessed 2008. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Richmond, Surrey, UK. http://www.kew.org/data/grassesdb.html

5.03

No. In the family Poaceae (1)

(1)W.D. Clayton, K.T. Harman and H. Williamson. Website: GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora. Accessed 2008. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Richmond, Surrey, UK. http://www.kew.org/data/grassesdb.html

5.04

Does not have bulbs, corms or tubers

6.01

(1)"Florida status: Native, common, widespread" (2)Present in 95 South Florida conservation areas (3)Map shows that this grass is present in 57 of 67 Florida counties

(1)Bradford, J. and G. Rogers. Web database: Grasses of Palm Beach and Martin Counties, Florida. Accessed 2008. http://frontpage.floridagrasses.org/ (2)Gann, G.D., K.A. Bradley and S.W. Woodmansee. 2001-2008. The Floristic Inventory of South Florida Database Online. The Institute for Regional Conservation, Miami http://regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/plantlist.asp (3)Wunderlin, R.P., and B.F. Hansen. 2008. Web database: Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants. http://www.plantatlas.usf.edu/

6.02

(1)"Plants will self-seed in optimum growing conditions"

(1)W.D. Clayton, K.T. Harman and H. Williamson. Website: GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora. Accessed 2008. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Richmond, Surrey, UK. http://www.kew.org/data/grassesdb.html

6.03

Unknown

6.04

Unknown

6.05

Wind pollinated

6.06

(1)"Without a doubt, this is the most exciting native plant that we have found in the last few years. Driving through southern Georgia, I spotted this on a dry hillside in late June and was able to collect a tiny division. Planted in our garden, E. elliottii makes a 3' wide clump of narrow powder-blue foliage." (2)"Propagate by division in early spring" (3)"forms nice clumps of powder-blue foliage that rises to about 18 inches tall with clumps that spread outward slowly with short rhizomes."

(1)Hendricks, D. and S. Castorani. Webpage: Eragrostis elliotii Blue Love Grass from North Creek Nurseries. Accessed 2008. http://www.northcreeknurseries.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/371/index.htm (2)Missouri Botanical Garden. Webpage: Kemper Center for Home Gardening. Accessed 2008. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/serviceplantfinder.shtml (3)San Marcos Growers. Webpage: Eragrostis elliottii plant Profile. Accessed 2008. http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=2850

6.07

Unknown

7.01

Yes, seeds are tiny and numerous (1)"Approximately 6,400.00 seeds per gram" (2)"We first received this plant labeled as Eragrostis elliottii from John Greenlee in 2001 who in turned received it from Bill and Nancy Bissett, native plant specialists who have a nursery in Davenport, Florida called The Native Inc. The differences between this plant and other plants labeled Eragrostis elliotti in the nursery trade became quickly apparent. To keep these plants separate John Greenlee applied the name 'Tallahassee Skies' to this plant which later morphed into 'Tallahassee Sunset' when it became part of the "John Greenlee Grass Collection" marketed by EuroAmerican Propagators. Subsequently is has been determined that much of the other Eragrostis elliottii sold in the United States is an introduced non-native plant, likely Eragrostis chloromelas, E. robusta, or E. trichophora. "

(1)B & T World Seeds. Webpage: B & T World Seeds Facts. Accessed 2008. http://www.b-and-t-worldseeds.com/letters.htm (2)San Marcos Growers. Webpage: Eragrostis elliottii plant Profile. Accessed 2008.http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=2850

7.02

Prized as an ornimental. Following descriptions is illustrative of this species' attrative qualities: (1)"Excellent Love Grass with blue color, native to the Southeast. Nice blue foliage and flowers in May which hold up well and remain attractive into fall & winter. Great growing in between plants for foliage and texture contrasts. Vigorous grower. Looks like fluffy bright cloudsduring a full moon!"

(1)Kiefer, L. Webpage: Ornamental Grasses at Triple Oaks Nursery and Herb Garden in Franklinville, New Jersey. Accessed 2008. http://www.tripleoaks.com/plants.php?special=grasses

7.03

An ornamental grass not necessarily grown near agricultural areas

7.04

(1)"fluffy inflorescences … sturdy plumes arise to 3', opening like a giant tan cloud." (2)"Flower panicles dance in the wind" (3)"Flowering: Airy plumes"

(1)Hendricks, D. and S. Castorani. Webpage: Eragrostis elliotii Blue Love Grass from North Creek Nurseries. Accessed 2008. http://www.northcreeknurseries.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/371/index.htm (2)Missouri Botanical Garden. Webpage: Kemper Center for Home Gardening. Accessed 2008. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/serviceplantfinder.shtml (3)Webpage: Santa Rosa Gardens Ornamental Grasses. Accessed 2008. http://www.santarosagardens.com/Ornamental-Grasses-Sedges-Grass-s/2.htm

7.05

Unknown

7.06

Unknown

7.07

Seed has no means of external attachment

7.08

Unknown

8.01

(1)Seeds are sold online "Information and prices for Eragrostis elliottii Approximately 6,400.00 seeds per gram seed-counts are only a guide, not to be used for accurate calculations."

(1)B & T World Seeds. Webpage: B & T World Seeds Facts. Accessed 2008. http://www.b-and-t-worldseeds.com/letters.htm

8.02

Unknown

8.03

Unknown

8.04

Regrows after fire(1).

(1)Snyder, J.R., M.S. Ross, S. Koptur and J. Sah. 2005. Developing Ecological Criteria for Prescribed Fire in South Florida Pine Rockland Ecosystems. SERC Research Reports Southeast Environmental Research Center. USGS Open File Report OF 2006-1062

8.05

Unknown