Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Eremochloa ophiuroides
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| Centipede grass, showing stolon in center. Creative commons photo by James Becwar. |
Introductory
SPECIES: Eremochloa ophiuroides
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Walsh, Roberta A. 1994. Eremochloa ophiuroides. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/graminoid/ereoph/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
EREOPH
SYNONYMS :
NO-ENTRY
SCS PLANT CODE :
EROP
COMMON NAMES :
centipede grass
TAXONOMY :
The scientific name of centipede grass is Eremochloa ophiuroides (Munro) Hack.
(Poaceae) [6,16,28,35]. There are no infrataxa.
LIFE FORM :
Graminoid
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Eremochloa ophiuroides
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Centipede grass is an introduced grass that occurs on the Southern
Coastal Plain from Texas to southern North Carolina; its range extends
north into Arkansas [3,13,16,17,28]. It is native to south and central
China [15].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
FRES39 Prairie
FRES41 Wet grasslands
STATES :
AL AR FL GA HI LA MA MS NC SC TX
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
NO-ENTRY
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
SAF COVER TYPES :
65 Pin oak-sweetgum
70 Longleaf pine
74 Cabbage palmetto
75 Shortleaf pine
80 Loblolly pine-shortleaf pine
81 Loblolly pine
83 Longleaf pine-slash pine
84 Slash pine
87 Sweetgum-yellow-poplar
100 Pondcypress
101 Baldcypress
102 Baldcypress-tupelo
111 South Florida slash pine
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
601 Bluestem prairie
603 Prairie sandreed-needlegrass
604 Bluestem-grama prairie
611 Blue grama-buffalo grass
711 Bluestem-sacahuista prairie
717 Little bluestem-Indiangrass-Texas wintergrass
726 Cordgrass
807 Gulf Coast fresh marsh
810 Longleaf pine-turkey oak hills
811 South Florida flatwoods
812 North Florida flatwoods
814 Cabbage palm flatwoods
822 Slough
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
NO-ENTRY
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Eremochloa ophiuroides
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
NO-ENTRY
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Centipede grass is a low-maintenance grass used for limited wear areas
such as industrial sites, roadsides, and other utility areas in the
southeastern United States [20,24].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Centipede grass is hardy in response to high temperatures such as those
experienced in the southeastern United States during summer months [14].
It is commonly used in sunny, dry locations [27]. It recuperates only
moderately well after damage [14]. Centipede grass requires less
fertilizer and grows more slowly than most other turf grasses [18,23];
it requires about 2 years to provide a solid turf cover [34].
Culture: Centipede grass grows best when planted in May or June [23],
though it can be planted from April through July [34]. April plantings
are more susceptible to infestation. July plantings require more water
and are susceptible to winter injury [23]. Centipede grass requires a
minimum of 6 inches (15 cm) of soil to support growth [34].
Centipede grass can be established by seeding and with sprigs or plugs.
Water application is usually needed for establishment. Centipede grass
generally grows well without any fertilizer, although fertilization
after new growth appears may increase cover [23,34]. Overfertilization
can cause injury or increase susceptibility to frost damage [21,26].
After first establishment centipede grass stems can be divided
frequently and replanted over a wider area [5].
Winter hardiness: If properly maintained centipede grass will grow well
as far north as Atlanta, Georgia. Centipede grass grown further north
is prone to winter injury [23].
Drought tolerance: Centipede grass has been considered drought tolerant
[17] to drought intolerant [3,26]. It was among the lowest water users
of nine warm-season grasses compared in south-central Georgia. In
another study of 11 turf grasses under drought conditions, centipede
grass was intermediate in its use of water [17]. Centipede grass is
less drought tolerant than bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.), zoysia (Zoysia
spp.), or St. Augustine grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) [3]. It is
suitable for infrequently watered areas in the Southern Coastal Plain
where rainless periods of up to 40 days are followed by moderate
rainfall [17].
Competition: Presence of weeds such as bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon)
and nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus) may decrease centipede grass during the
first 2 years after establishment; oats (Avena sativa) planted as
companion grass does not [7,23]. Use of mulch and herbicides to control
competition is described [18,22,23,24].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Eremochloa ophiuroides
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Centipede grass is an introduced warm-season, turf-forming, perennial
grass with prostrate growth form [14]. It creeps by thick, short-noded,
leafy stolons [16]. It has compressed racemes [13] 1.2 to 2 inches (3-5
cm) long. Spikelets are flat, two-flowered [6], and awnless [13]. The
fruit is a caryopsis [16]. Centipede grass has greater root mass in the
top 4 inches (10 cm) of soil than do some other warm-season turf
grasses. It also has high root density, length, and mass at all depths
to which its roots grow [9].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Hemicryptophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Centipede grass sprouts from stolons and reproduces by seed [34].
Raceme production is prolific throughout the Southeast from summer to
fall [19]. Seed set in an experimental setting was 59 to 90 percent
with open-pollination, 45 to 66 percent with cross-pollination, and 0 to
58 percent with self-pollination [15]. Centipede grass has low seed
yield compared to many other turf grasses [25]. The caryopsis is
enclosed in a wax coating which is a physical barrier to germination.
Centipede grass apparently requires alternating temperature regimes for
optimum germination. In laboratory studies, maximum germination of
centipede grass occurred when warm temperatures (80 to 95 degrees
Fahrenheit [27-35 deg C]) with 8 to 12 hours of light were alternated
with lower temperatures (59 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit [15-20 deg C]) and
darkness [2,33].
Centipede grass produces new stolons each growing season. These runners
replace the live growth of the previous year. They grow over the top of
the latter, developing a thick, spongy thatch. Centipede grass does
not produce rhizomes [26].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Centipede grass grows under cultivation [13,16] and also occurs on sandy
roadsides in the Carolinas [28]; it is found on disturbed sites in
central Florida [35] and is naturalized in coastal hammocks in the
Florida panhandle [6].
Typically, centipede grass grows on the sandy acid soils of the
southeastern United States [15]. Centipede grass does not thrive on
soils with high levels of phosphorus or high pH [34]. However, studies
in Texas have shown that satisfactory turfs can be grown with soil pH up
to 8.4 [14]. Centipede grass in north-central Florida grew best when
planted in soil of pH 5.8; inoculation with vesicular-arbuscular
mycorrhizae (VAM) did not improve topgrowth at that pH. At soil pH 7.3,
VAM infection increased topgrowth 1.8 times over the uninoculated
treatment [8]. Centipede grass does not grow well on poorly drained
soil [34] but is adapted to low fertility soils [19].
Centipede grass grows on sandy and silty loams in Macon County, Alabama
[25], and on fine sand in southeastern Florida [5]. In southeastern
Louisiana it grows on silty loam with pH 6.7 [1].
Although most of the range to which centipede grass is adapted is humid,
with 30 to 59 inches (750-1,500 mm) of rain annually, drought conditions
occur during most growing seasons [17].
Centipede grass is a tropical grass that has no natural winter rest
period. If temperatures drop fairly slowly and steadily, the grass
adjusts and tolerates temperatures well below freezing before it dies
[26]. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, lethal temperatures ranged from about
17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit (-7 to -8 deg C) in February and March
during active growth to 15.8 degrees Fahrenheit (-9 deg C) in December
and January [11]. Centipede grass has survived 12 degrees Fahrenheit
(-11.1 deg C) in Mississippi [26].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Centipede grass grows well in full sun, but it may also tolerate shade
[23,34]. A centipede grass cultivar and three other lawn grasses were
tested for shade tolerance in southeastern Louisiana. The experimental
conditions simulated those under Gulf Coast deciduous shade trees.
Centipede grass was the species most tolerant of reduced light (47-63%
shade) [1]. In another study in northeastern Texas, seven centipede
grass cultivars were tested at 15 percent full sunlight under tree
canopy. No cultivar produced acceptable turf under these conditions.
Vegetative spread was minimal or absent [27]. Information on centipede
grass successional status in naturalized conditions was unavailable.
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Centipede grass seed usually requires 21 to 28 days to germinate [34].
Centipede grass blooms in August and September in the Carolinas [28].
It blooms from summer to fall in the Florida panhandle [6] and central
Florida [35].
Centipede grass seeds are mature at the end of October in southeastern
Alabama [25]. Centipede grass seed is produced in north Florida and
south Georgia from mid-June until late October [2].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Eremochloa ophiuroides
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Centipede grass has stolon nodes [13,14,16] which may sprout after
aerial portions are burned.
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Eremochloa ophiuroides
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Centipede grass culms and blades are probably killed by fire. Stolons
creep over the surface of the soil [26] and are probably killed by all
except the least severe fires. Thatch may also burn.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Where centipede grass is naturalized, it may colonize burned areas by
seed.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Eremochloa ophiuroides
REFERENCES :
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and yield response of four warm-season lawngrasses to shade conditions.
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2. Bouton, J. H.; Dudeck, A. E.; Smith, R. L. 1976. Germination in freshly
harvested seed of centipedegrass. Agronomy Journal. 68(6): 991-992.
[23191]
3. Boyd, John. 1989. Centipedegrass lawn calendar. Fact Sheet 2051. Little
Rock, AR: University of Arkansas, Cooperative Extension Service. 2 p.
[23192]
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sludge on rooting of grass cuttings. Agronomy Journal. 68(2): 382-384.
[23193]
5. Busey, Philip; Myers, Barbara J. 1979. Grwoth rates of turfgrasses
propagated vegetatively. Agronomy Journal. 71(5): 817-821. [23194]
6. Clewell, Andre F. 1985. Guide to the vascular plants of the Florida
Panhandle. Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University Press. 605 p.
[13124]
7. Dudeck, A. E.; Peacock, C. H. 1986. Companion grass and mulch influences
on bahiagrass, centipedegrass, and St. Augustinegrass establishment.
Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. 111(6):
844-848. [23195]
8. Dudeck, A. E.; Schenck, N. C.; Peacock, C. H. 1984. Influence of
mycorrhizae on the growth of bahiagrass and centipedegrass. Proceedings,
Soil and Crop Science Society of Florida. 43: 137-140. [23196]
9. Engelke, M. C.; White, R. H.; Morton, S. J.; Marcum, K. B. 1991. Root
development in selected varieties of each of four warm-season turfgrass
genera. In: Progress Report PR 4884. College Station, TX: Texas
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tolerance & carbohydrate content of low-temperature-acclimated and
nonacclimated centipedegrass. Crop Science. 33(5): 1051-1055. [23198]
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1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
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centipedegrass, and zoysia turfgrasses. Research Bulletin 379. Athens,
GA: The University of Georgia, College of Agriculture, Georgia
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treatments: effects on injury and suppression of centipedegrass.
Agronomy Journal. 85(2): 276-280. [23203]
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programs on centipedegrass. Agronomy Journal. 84(1): 21-26. [23204]
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and recovery as affected by fertilizer and cultural treatments. Agronomy
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22. Johnson, B. J.; Murphy, T. R. 1987. Control of large crabgrass and
goosegrass in warm-season turfgrasses. Research Bulletin 364. Athens,
GA: The University of Georgia, College of Agriculture, Georgia
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[23218]
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FEIS Home Page
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