25 

 GIANT CUTGRASS 



BOTANICAL 



Giant cutgrass Zizaniopsis miliacea, also called whitemarsh, is 

 a tall perennial of semitropical America that extends northward a 

 short distance beyond the southeastern Coastal Plain. It grows 

 in freshwater coastal marshes from Virginia to Texas and is par- 

 ticularly abundant in former ricefields of South Carolina and 

 Georgia. Giant cutgrass also occurs inland in the Lower Missis- 

 sippi Valley region as far north as Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee, 

 where it covers nearly 2,000 acres. 



This weedy grass grows on moist soil or in water up to 3 feet 

 deep, and for limited periods it tolerates deeper water. Its seeds 

 — generally produced rather sparsely — germinate readily on moist 

 mud flats. Runners are the principal means of spread, especially 

 in flooded areas. In late summer, stolons or runners develop 

 freely from the lower parts of the plant, some of them attaining 

 a length of 14 feet. Leafy buds and roots produced at nodes of 

 the runners establish independent plants at some distance from 

 the parent, and in this way giant cutgrass spreads over both 

 flooded and unflooded sites. 



IMPORTANCE 



Waterfowl feed on giant-cutgrass seeds where they are plentiful 

 and readily available, as along margins of openings of the marsh, 

 or where the growth is sparse. Such value, however, is slight 

 compared to its detriment to waterfowl habitat ; the plant's aggres- 

 sive growth and saw-edged leaf blades make it one of the most 

 troublesome marsh weeds in the South. 



