''Eragrostis curvula'' is a species of
grass
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...
known by the
common name weeping lovegrass. Other common names include Boer lovegrass, curved lovegrass, Catalina lovegrass, and African lovegrass.
It is native to
southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
. It is an
introduced species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...
on other continents.
[Gucker, Corey L. (2009)]
''Eragrostis curvula''.
In: Fire Effects Information System, nline U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Retrieved 12-22-2011.
Description
''Eragrostis curvula'' is usually a long-lived perennial grass, but it is sometimes an
annual plant. It is variable in appearance, and there are many different natural and cultivated forms.
In general, it forms tufts of stems up to tall. The tufts may reach a diameter of .
The grass grows from a thick root network. Plants have been noted to have roots penetrating over deep in the soil and laterally. The roots can grow per day. The first root to grow into the soil from a
seedling
A seedling is a young sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle (embryonic root), the hypocotyl (embryo ...
can send out up to 60 small rootlets per inch. The dense root system forms a
sod
Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls.
In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricult ...
.
The drooping leaves of the grass are up to long but just a few millimeters wide, and they may have rolled edges. The
inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...
is a
panicle with branches lined with centimeter-long spikelets. Each spikelet may contain up to 15 flowers. One panicle may produce 1000 seeds. Cultivated plants may produce two crops of seed per year. The plant self-fertilizes or undergoes
apomixis, without fertilization.
[
]
Uses
This grass is valuable as a forage
Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used ...
for livestock in Africa, its native range.[Ncanana, S., et al. (2005)]
Development of plant regeneration and transformation protocols for the desiccation-sensitive weeping lovegrass ''Eragrostis curvula''.
''Plant Cell Rep'' 24 335-40. Retrieved 12-22-2011. There are many ecotype
In evolutionary ecology, an ecotype,Greek: ''οίκος'' = home and ''τύπος'' = type, coined by Göte Turesson in 1922 sometimes called ecospecies, describes a genetically distinct geographic variety, population, or race within a specie ...
s. Several of these ecotypes were collected and introduced in the United States as cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...
s. The grass was first planted in the United States in Stillwater, Oklahoma
Stillwater ( iow, Ñápinⁿje, ''meaning: "Water quiet"'') is a city in, and the county seat of, Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177 and State Highway 51. As of t ...
, in 1935. It was good for livestock, and its massive root network made it a good plant for erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...
control.
It spread quickly as it was planted for ornamental purposes. It reached New York in the 1960s and in the 1970s and 80s it was planted alongside many highways such as the Long Island Expressway
Long may refer to:
Measurement
* Long, characteristic of something of great duration
* Long, characteristic of something of great length
* Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate
* Longa (music), note value in early music men ...
. Today it occurs as an invasive species in wild habitat from the southwestern United States to the East Coast. It can be found in woodlands, chaparral, prairie
Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...
, grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...
, and disturbed areas.[ It is tolerant of very acidic and very basic soils; it grows easily in mine spoils. This species may ]hybridize
Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to:
*Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid
*Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals
*Nu ...
with other ''Eragrostis
''Eragrostis'' is a large and widespread genus of plants in the grass family, found in many countries on all inhabited continents and many islands.
''Eragrostis'' is commonly known as lovegrass or canegrass. The name of the genus is derived fr ...
'', such as '' Eragrostis caesia'', '' E. lehmanniana'', and '' E. planiculmis''.[Halvorson, W. L. and P. Guertin. (2003)]
USGS Weeds in the West project: Status of Introduced Plants in Southern Arizona Parks.
USGS. Retrieved 12-22-2011.
Cultivars of this grass include 'South African Robusta Blue', 'Witbank', 'Ermelo', 'Kromdraai', 'American Leafy', and 'Renner'.['Mapledoram, B. and E. P. Theron. (1970). ''Notes on the relative merit of four cultivars of ''Eragrostis curvula'' in Natal''. Proceedings of the Annual Congresses of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa] Cultivars may be selected for yield, palatability for livestock, and drought resistance. It is planted along waterways in Sri Lanka and mountainsides in Japan, and it is used for oversowing fields in Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. In the United States it is often planted alongside Korean lespedeza.[''Eragrostis curvula''.]
FAO Plant Profile. Retrieved 12-22-2011. It is planted as a nurse crop
Nurse crops are a subtype of nurse plants, facilitating the growth of other species of plants. The term is used primarily in agriculture, but also in forestry. Cover crops are a type of nurse crop.
Agriculture
In agriculture, a nurse crop i ...
for sericea lespedeza, coastal panic grass, and switchgrass
''Panicum virgatum'', commonly known as switchgrass, is a perennial warm season bunchgrass native to North America, where it occurs naturally from 55°N latitude in Canada southwards into the United States and Mexico. Switchgrass is one of the ...
.Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
and other Australian states.[Parsons, W. T. and E. G. Cuthbertson. ''Noxious weeds of Australia''. CSIRO Publishing 2001.
] It is aggressive and can crowd out native plants. Its drought resistance helps it to survive in dry environments.[''Eragrostis curvula''.]
USFS Plant Fact Sheet. Retrieved 7-20-2021.
In Lesotho, this grass is used to make baskets, brooms, hats, ropes, and candles, and it is used for food, as a charm, and in funeral rituals.[''Eragrostis curvula''.]
Purdue University Center for New Crops and Plants Products. Retrieved 12-22-2011.
See also
*Teff
''Eragrostis tef'', also known as teff, Williams lovegrass or annual bunch grass, is an annual grass, a species of lovegrass native to the Horn of Africa, notably to both Eritrea and Ethiopia. It is cultivated for its edible seeds, also known as ...
*Injera
Injera (, ; om, Biddeena; ) is a sour fermented pancake-like flatbread with a slightly spongy texture, traditionally made of teff flour. In Ethiopia, Eritrea, and some parts of Sudan, injera is the staple. Injera is central to the dining p ...
References
External links
{{Authority control
Bunchgrasses of Africa
Flora of Southern Africa
Grasses of South Africa
Plants described in 1821
curvula