Re: kikuyu, aka? (or St. Augustine Grass?)
"Sean A. O'Hara" wrote:
>
> At 09:44 AM 2/21/01 -0800, Jan Smithen wrote:
> >P. clandestinum ? ! So ominous! Whoever named that monster was right on. It
> >rapaciously spreads while you sleep!
> >+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> >Jan Smithen,
> >Upland, California
>
> Here in California, St. Augustine Grass is a common turf grass and often
> goes under the name of Kikuyu. It is Stenotaphrum secundatum (perhaps not
> so scary a latin name). One of the big differences between this and tru
> Kikuyu is that it is stoloniferous rather than rhizominous.
Sean
Your method of distinguishing between these two grasses leaves me a bit
puzzled as when I lived in Africa (At one point actually within a mile
or two of the village of Kikuyu itself!!!) we had lawns of the true
Kikuyu grass and I always remember that during the awful droughts of the
thirties our lawn for a long time consisted of bare red earth with just
lots of long hairy _stolons_ crawling over the surface.
Anyway both grasses are also weeds in NZ and last year was published the
long-awaited vol. 5 of our NZ Flora comprising the grasses and
including incomers, so I was able to look up the official botanical
descriptions of both and I find:-
Pennesetum clandestinum kikuyu grass
Decumbant to semiscandent perennials, with creeping cataphyll ((small
leaf like structures)-covered rhizomes and LONG STOLONS (My
emphasis).. rooting at the nodes.
It also mentions the "infloresences born on very short branches..
almost entirely hidden in the leaf sheaths" (which are responsible of
course for it being named clandestinum).
Stenotaphrum secundatum buffalo grass (Yes, this is apparently the
correct common name in NZ, but not in North America where it is applied
to a different plant.)
Perennial coarse... tufts arising from a short woody rhizome and from
long trailing.. arching compressed angular stolons.
So it would appear that _both_ plants have stolons and the main
differnce is in the type of rhizome, with Kikuyu having long creeping
ones and the St Augustine grass short woody ones.
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata (near Wellington, capital city of New Zealand)
