Sporobolus

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Sporobolus
Sporobolus virginicus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Poales Family: Poaceae Subfamily: Chloridoideae Tribe: Eragrostideae Genus: Sporobolus
Species
Many, see text

Sporobolus is a genus of grasses in the family Poaceae. They are usually called dropseed grasses or sacaton grasses. They are typical prairie and savanna plants, but occur in other open habitat in warmer climates also.

[edit] Uses and ecology

While some dropseed grasses make nice gardening plants, they are generally considered to make inferior pastures as evidenced by names like "poverty grass" or Smutgrass. On the other hand, seeds of at least some species are edible and nutritious; they were used as food for example by the Chiricahua Apaches.

Caterpillars of the small moth Bucculatrix sporobolella have only been found on Alkali Sacaton (S. airoides). The Laysan Dropseed Noctuid Moth (Hypena laysanensis) apparently became extinct with the disappearance of S. virginicus on Laysan Island due to feral rabbits; the grass however is a widespread species. Seed-eating birds, namely Aimophila American sparrows, feed on sacaton seeds. S. wrightii is a critical resource for the Botteri's Sparrow (Aimophila botterii) which at one time was extirpated from Arizona.

At least one species (S. caespitosus from Saint Helena) is threatened with extinction, and another (S. durus from Ascension Island) is extinct.

[edit] Selected species

• Sporobolus actinocladus (F.Muell.) F.Muell.
• Sporobolus airoides – Alkali Sacaton
• Sporobolus argutas Kunth.
• Sporobolus caespitosus
• Sporobolus compositus (= S. asper) – Tall Dropseed, Meadow Dropseed, Rough Dropseed
• Sporobolus cryptandrus – Sand Dropseed
• Sporobolus cubensis
• Sporobolus domingensis
• Sporobolus durus (extinct)
• Sporobolus elongatus R.Br.
• Sporobolus fertilis
• Sporobolus flexuosus – Mesa Dropseed
• Sporobolus fourcadei Stent
• Sporobolus heterolepis – Prairie Dropseed, Northern Dropseed
• Sporobolus indicus (L.) R.Br. – Smutgrass, "wiregrass"
  • Sporobolus indicus var. flaccidus (= Sporobolus diander)
• Sporobolus jacquemontii Kunth (= S. pyramidalis P.Beauv.) – Giant Rat's-tail Grass
• Sporobolus marginatus
• Sporobolus neglectus – Small Dropseed
• Sporobolus rigens (Tr.) Desv.
• Sporobolus pyramidatus (Lam.) A.S.Hitchc. – Madagascar Dropseed
• Sporobolus tenuissimus
• Sporobolus vaginaeflorus (Torr.) Wood (or S. vaginiflorus) – Sheathed Dropseed, "poverty grass"
• Sporobolus virginicus (L.) Kunth.
• Sporobolus wrightii
• Sporobolus pulchellus R.Br.
• Sporobolus africanus
• Sporobolus virginicus