FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Look for long, loose hairs where leaves clasp stem; smooth leaves with rough edges. Fruits distinctive.
Synonym(s): Uniola latifolia
Description: Tall, colonial grass, spreading by rhizomes. Plant unbranched with stems 0.6 to 1.5 m tall.
Leaves: Grass-like leaf blades, 2 cm wide. Blades smooth with rough edges. Leaf bases have long, loose hairs.
Flowers/Fruit: Flowering portion with drooping branches containing spikelets, which resemble sea oats. Flowers and fruits June to October.
Habit and Range: Stream and river banks, low woods and shaded slopes throughout the state, but more numerous in the Piedmont.
Taxonomic Note: Also called Indian Wood-oats
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Leaves of Chasmanthium latifolium (Indian wood-oats) are similar to Arundinaria tecta (switch cane), which grows 1 to 3 m tall with somewhat woody central stems. C. latifolium has more of a clumped appearance, with multiple thin stems arising from the ground. Fruits of C. latifolium are also similar in appearance to the common coastal Uniola paniculata (sea oats), which grows on seashore sand dunes and in interdune swales. C. latifolium grows only in freshwater wetlands.
Click here to view Arundinaria gigantea.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
