Weeping Lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula)

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Plantae
Phylum	Magnoliophyta
Class	Magnoliopsida
Superorder	Lilianae
Order	Poales
Family	Poaceae
Subfamily	Chloridoideae
Tribe	Eragrostideae
Genus	Eragrostis

Scientific Name

Eragrostis curvula

Scientific Name Synonyms

Eragrostis robusta

Eragrostis chloromelas

Eragrostis curvula var. conferta

Common Name

weeping lovegrass

Miller, J.H., E.B, Chambliss, N.J. Loewenstein. 2010. A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests. General Technical Report SRS-119. Asheville, NC. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 126 p.

Plant

Densely clumping to up to 2.5 feet (75 cm) tall, perennial, warm-season grass formed from flattened, basally interconnected sprays of long, thin and wiry basal leaves that arch and droop in all directions almost touching the ground (thus the common name “weeping”). Tall laterally branched flower stalks in early summer to 6 feet (2 m) tall persist during the early winter with seed having varying fertility. Root system is large and fibrous. Evergreen or semi-evergreen in the southern Coastal Plain, while dormant whitish, wispy clumps are highly recognizable further north.

Stem (culm)

Not apparent except for the flower/seedstalks. Leaves arise from a tightly packed, short, flattened group of stems hidden in hairy basal sheaths that persist over winter.

Leaves

Thin, less than a quarter of an inch (1 to 4 mm) wide, with margins often rolled inward, to several feet (1 m) long and arching over at midleaf to almost touch the ground. Originating from tightly packed, dense, flattened bundles of leaves, 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) long encased by persistent sheaths, having scattered to dense hairs.

Flowers

June to July. Open spreading panicles, lavender-gray color, 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 cm) long, on stalks to 6 feet (1.9 m) tall, with numerous projecting or erect lateral branches, being shorter in the upper portion with numerous secondary branchlets that bear stacks of tiny, grayish-green, husked flowers.

Seeds

July to November. Husks light tan and the grain reddish brown, 0.15 to 0.22 inch (4 to 5.5 mm) long, released within the husks.

Ecology

Still widely seeded for soil stabilization along highways, on surface mines, and around businesses and homes; increasingly escaping to dominate native plant communities throughout the United States. Tolerant of fire, drought, salinity, and bred for cold tolerance. Adapted to a wide range of habitats from moist to dry, hot to cold, and soils that are acid to basic. Prefers well-drained sandy loam soils and will not tolerate standing water. Clumps increase by basal shoots and infestations increase in density by seedfall. Seed dispersed by water, contaminated equipment and soil, and through planting. Occurs as dense colonies in old fields and along field margins and right-of-ways, where it invades new forest plantations, open forests, forest openings and special habitats like native prairies. Detrimental to wildlife, especially ground-nesting and foraging birds.

Resembles

Resembles no other grasses due to its unique growth habit of tight clumps of “weeping” long and narrow leaves. Many other species of native and nonnative lovegrasses produce similar seedstalks

History and use

Introduced into the U.S. in 1927 from South Africa and later from Tanzania for erosion control and for forage. Still widely sold and planted as an ornamental and for soil stabilization and forage.

Distribution

Found throughout the region with frequent and dense infestations in KY, VA, TN, and NC and the northern portions of AL, GA, and SC.

Management strategies

• Do not plant. Remove prior plantings, and control sprouts and seedlings. Bag and dispose of plants and seed in a dumpster or burn.
• Treat when new plants are young to prevent seed formation.
• Minimize disturbance within miles of where this plant occurs, and anticipate wider occupation when plants are present before disturbance.
• Pull, cut, and treat when seed are not present.
• Burning treatments are suspected of having minimal topkill effect due to scant litter.
• Sparingly eaten by most livestock with varying nutritional value.

Recommended control procedures

• Thoroughly wet all leaves with one of the following herbicides in water with a surfactant: a glyphosate herbicide as a 2-percent solution (8 ounces per 3-gallon mix), Arsenal AC* as a 0.5 percent solution (2 ounces per 3-gallon mix), or Arsenal PowerLine* as a 0.75-percent solution (3 ounces per 3-gallon mix). All applications should be made in early summer when foliage is developed and seeds have not been produced.

* Nontarget plants may be killed or injured by root uptake.

Images

September	April	April	September
September	November

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