and is also know in Europe in France, Corsica, and Italy. Salt meadow hay flowers mostly 

 from May to September, but occasionally throughout the growing season. Viable seed is 

 produced in early September. 



This perennial grass is the most widespread plant on Louisiana's coastal dunes. 

 While this species is more productive on moist sites, it is often found as the sole 

 dominant on low-lying dunes and washover flats. The grass spreads to make dense stands 

 by a network of slender rhizomes. The aboveground stems are slender and up to I m tall 

 with rolled to semirolled leaves less than 0.6 cm wide. Salt meadow hay can be dominant 

 in all three of the major barrier island habitats: dune, swale, and salt marsh (high 

 marsh). 



For use along the Louisiana coast, this plant may be thinned from existing stands or 

 ordered from horticultural supply houses. Although the viability of naturally occurring 

 seed has not been tested in Louisiana, if it is similar to what has been found in the 

 Carolinas (Seneca 1969; Graetz 1973), this plant may be suitable for propagation by 

 seed. Plantings of vegetative material can be made in late winter and early spring. 

 Planting stock consists of several stems rooted at the base, preferably with a section of 

 rhizome attached. In vegetating sand flats, the stock is planted 46 cm apart in the 

 center of the planting area, spreading out to I to 1 .2 m apart at the edges. This 

 graduated planting allows sand to penetrate to the center of the grass in the first two 

 seasons making a wider, flatter dune. Planting depth is about 10 to 13 cm. 



Panicum amarum , bitter panicum (Figure 6), has culms 0.3 to 2 m tall that form 

 large or small clumps or solitary plants from rhizomes. This plant is distributed in North 

 America on the Atlantic and gulf coasts from Connecticut to Florida and Texas, in the 

 West Indies, and on the eastern coast of Mexico. Bitter panicum flowers from September 

 to November. According to Gould (1975), P. amarulum , seashore panicum, seems "to 

 represent no more than a growth form or variety of a single species," Panicum amarum . 

 This conclusion agrees with the analysis of Palmer (1975). Therefore, P. amarum should 

 be used as the scientific name for this plant in Louisiana. 



Bitter panicum is an important perennial of foredune areas in Louisiana and is a 

 good grass for dune stabilization. Since this plant produces no viable seed, its only means 

 of colonization and propagation is by rhizome. The leaves of bitter panicum are smooth 

 and bluish in color. Seed heads are narrow, compressed, and most often sparsely 

 seeded. The plants grow to an average height of I to 1.2 m. 



In Louisiana, planting stock may be obtained from cuttings of existing populations 

 or purchased from commercial sources. Planting stock consists of a single stem cut at 

 the base to include a node, a stem with part of the rhizome attached, or 20- to 30- cm 

 lengths of the rhizome without the aboveground parts. The latter must contain at least 

 two nodes per piece of rhizome. Bitter panicum is best planted in the spring through 

 early summer at a depth of 15 to 25 cm for stem material and 10 cm for rhizome. Plants 

 should be spaced at 46 cm. 



Sporobolus virginicus , seashore dropseed (Figure 7), is a perennial, strongly 

 rhizomatous plant arising singly or in clusters. In general, this plant is distributed along 

 the eastern coast from Virginia to Florida and Texas, and southward through the West 

 Indies and the Caribbean to Brazil. Sporobolus flowers from May to October, 

 occasionally to December. 



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