FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Multiple spikelets distinctive. Leaves have shiny midribs. Many bottomlands are now dominated by this aggressive grass.
Synonym(s): Andropogon vimineum, Eulalia viminea
Description: Low annual with freely branching, slender, trailing culms, rooting at the nodes. Stems 0.5 to 1 m long.
Leaves: Leaf blades lance-shaped, 3 to 8 cm long and 0.5 to 1 cm wide.
Flowers/Fruit: Spikelets 0.5 cm long and in racemes of 2 to 6. Flowering and fruiting in fall (September to November).
Habit and Range: This introduced species inhabits floodplains, shaded banks, roadsides, marsh edges, and waste areas. Found statewide.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass) may be confused with Arthraxon hispidus (small carpgrass), but Microstegium vimineum stems are smoother, and leaves are finer and narrower.
Click here to view Arthraxon hispidus.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
