Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The genus Distichlis (Eragrostoideae)
Distichlis spicata
(L.) Greene, known as salt grass, alkali grass or spike
grass, is a low-growing species that looks similar to low-quality cynodon.
It can be used on all types of lawns, is excellent in parks and is often used
in restoration of salt-marshes. Salt-grass seeds are mostly unavailable,
and reproduction is primarily from rhizomes. Leaves are hairy and
sharply pointed and have stiff blades. The sharp-pointed stiff rhizomes
of this species can effectively push through heavy clay soils. Salt glands
on the leaves extrude salt, allowing the plants to use salty water. The
extensive root system of salt grass can hold together eroded soil particles,
so it is a good erosion-control plant. It can occupy extremely salty and
alkaline soils that are poorly drained and have a high water table. It can
survive long-lasting soil saturation or flooding.
The genus Pennisetum (Panicoideae)
Pennisetum clandestinum
Hochst. ex Chiov., known mostly as kikuyu
grass, is a coarse-textured, light-green grass that spreads by both rhiz-
omes and stolons. It requires high fertility and moist soil that drains well.
In the tropics it can be found mostly in mountainous regions of Africa
and Central America and also in Thailand. When established in the hot,
humid tropics it becomes severely diseased and cannot persist. Its im-
portance is very minor.
Criteria for Selecting Turf-grass Species
Correct selection of a turf-grass depends upon many factors. The most
critical are type of use (lawn, golf course, sports field), location (sunny,
shady, fertile soil, poor soil) and desired appearance. Because each
turf-grass species has its good and bad characteristics, one should consider
the strengths and weaknesses of each species for each particular situation.
The comments below are followed by tables ranking common turf-
grass species according to their important characteristics or their require-
ments. Please note, however, that these rankings are not 'evenly spaced'.
That is, two adjacent species in the ranking may differ a great deal or only
slightly. For example, the recuperative capacities of first-ranked cynodon
and second-ranked seashore paspalum are almost the same, whereas
those of sixth-ranked centipede grass and seventh-ranked zoysia are
very different. The exact position of a particular turf-grass in the rankings
may depend somewhat on geographic location, but the general position