10 



BULLETIN 65, HAWAII EXPERIMENT STATION 



No. 8. AXONOPUS COMPRESSL'S, PASPALUM COMPRESSUM (5, p. 224) 

 Common name: Carpet grass 



Carpet grass is a native of tropical America. It is of considerable 

 importance to the stock industry of the Gulf States (6, p. 224), and has 

 a wide range of adaptability to soil and moisture conditions. In Ha- 

 waii carpet grass makes its most important growth in pastures below 

 2,000 feet. It is a perennial, attaining a height of 5 to 10 inches, 

 spreads by runners, and, under grazing conditions, forms a dense sod. 

 It is among the most persistent of all Hawaiian grasses, crowding out 

 most weeds and other grasses, and withstanding heavy and continuous 

 grazing. It is fairly well liked by livestock, being more palatable 



Figure 8. — Axonopus compressus 



than Hilo grass (Paspalum conjugatum) and rice grass (P. orbiculare, 

 but less so than Australian water grass or Dallis grass (P. dilatatum) . 



Carpet grass covers a large part of the pastures in the wet districts 

 of Kauai, and will furnish fair pasturage, especially when sown with 

 the sensitive plant. However, it is not liked by local ranchers because 

 it crowds out other more nutritious grasses. It is being propagated 

 on pahoehoe lands in the Puna district because it supersedes and 

 smothers out the rice grass growing there. Carpet grass crowds out 

 Hilo grass on the Parker ranch, but is not allowed to get into the pad- 

 docks where bromegrass, bur clover, and ryegrass are established. 

 Carpet grass is encouraged in the Kona district where other grasses 

 have not become established. Its dense, matted sod is said to aid 

 materially in repressing the guava, an ever-encroaching pest on Kona 

 pasture lands. 



