Eastern Gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloid)

Origin: Native to North America
Use: Perennial, warm season, native grass that provides good grazing for wildlife and livestock.
Image: Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlargeClick to enlarge Click to enlargeClick to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge
Plant Description:
General  Characteristics of Eastern Gamagrass
Life Span  Perennial
Growth Form  erect; bunchgrass, short rhizomes
Management:
Seeding Rate 
40" Rows: 
Broadcast: 


10 pounds pure live seed per acre
20 pounds pure live seed per acre
Planting Date  March-May
Planting Depth 0.25 to 0.75 inch
pH requirement 5.1 to 7.5
Rainfall requirement 16 to 60 inches
Soil texture  Sandy: 
Loam: 
Clay: 

Moderate
High
High
Cold Tolerance: High
General  Provides good grazing for wildlife and livestock.
ID Features:
Habit: 		Tall, tufted perennial grasses, with thick, knotty rhizomes.
Culms: 		1-2.5 m. high, glabrous throughout, in large clumps.
Blades: 	40-60 cm. long, 1.5-3.5 cm. wide, glabrous or pubescent on the upper surface,
		scabrous on the margins, long-acuminate, midrib large.
Sheaths: 	Flattened, shorter than the internodes, glabrous or pubescent at the summit.
Ligule: 	A ring of short hairs.
Inflorescence: 	Terminal and axillary monoecious inflorescences of 1-3 spikes, the
		pistillate part below, the spikelets sunken in hollows of the joints, which break
		up when mature, the staminate above on the same rachis, deciduous as a whole.
		Spikes 15-25 cm. long, pistillate part one fourth the entire length or less.
Spikelets: 	Unisexual, staminate spikelets, 7-11 mm. long,  2-flowered, in pairs at
		each node of the spike, one sessile, the other sessile or pedicellate.
		Pistillate spikelets solitary, 7-10 mm. long, on opposite sides at each
		joint of the thick, hard articulate lower part of the same rachis,
		sunken in hollows in the joints, consisting of one sterile lemma.
Glumes: 	Of staminate spikelet 2, about equal, the first 2-keeled, scabrous on the
		keel, about 9-nerved, rigid, acute, the second membranous, about 5-nerved, the
		2 lemmas and their paleas about equal, each with 3 stamens.
		First glume of pistillate flowers very hard, thick, and shining,
		concealing the rest, many nerves visible from inside; the second glume similar,
		but thinner, folded around the smaller hyaline sterile lemma and perfect floret,
		with progressively smaller hyaline lemma and palea.
Stigmas: 	Exserted as much as 2.5 cm.
Habitat: 	Moist prairies, swamps and banks of streams.  June-September.
Use: 		A robust forage grass.
Synonyms:	Tripsacum dactyloides (L.) L. var. occidentale Cutler & Anders.
Special Notes:
  • responsive to nitrogen fertilizer and moisture
  • must be rotationally grazed (very palatable)
  • seed quality is low and is difficult to establish

    Eastern Gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloid) Information #1
    Eastern Gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloid) Information #2
    Eastern Gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloid) Information #3
    Eastern Gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloid) Information #4

  •  
    Regional Adaptation
    Variety
    Coast Saline Prairie
    Coast Prairie
    East Texas Timberlands
    Claypan Area
    Blackland Prairie
    East Cross Timbers
    West Cross Timbers
    Grand Prairie
    North Central Prairies
    Central Basin
    Edwards Plateau
    Northern Rio Grande Plain
    Western Rio Grande Plain
    Central Rio Grande Plain
    Lower Rio Grande Valley
    Rolling Plains
    High Plains
    Trans-Pecos
    gamagrass
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    pete
     
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
     
     
     
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
     
     
    luka
     
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
     
     
     
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X
    X