Eriochloa villosa seed

LATIN NAME: ERIOCHLOA VILLOSA

COMMON NAME: Woolly Cupgrass

The woolly cupgrass bristles the broad, flat blades with the dense, woolly-haired spikelets along the coarse, branching stems, the whole plant standing in the sturdy, warm-season look of the wayside grass. The seed heads carry the soft, fuzzy cover that gives the grass its name, the clumps spread into the thick, robust tussocks, and the plant grows fast and full through the summer. It is one of the common grasses of the field edges and the disturbed ground, tough, quick, and hard to miss. It likes the sun, the moisture, and the ordinary, fertile soil.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

Weed biologists keep the woolly cupgrass on their lists for a straightforward reason: it is quick, vigorous and hard to stop where the ground has been disturbed. Studies of the seed dormancy and the germination timing help the agronomists plan the control strategies, while the ecology side notes that the fuzzy seed heads feed the birds through the late summer. The grass also turns up in the surveys of the wayside flora, where its fast spread across the new ground keeps it interesting.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

Put in the right place, the woolly cupgrass is useful rather than troublesome. The dense clumps hold the soil on the banks and the field edges, the seed heads feed the finches and the sparrows, and the quick growth gives the temporary cover where the ground has been turned over. The grazing animals take it as the forage, though in the crop fields the growers watch it closely. A grass of the resilient ground, quick to cover and easy to live with.

The woolly cupgrass seeds germinate easily in a fine, sandy loam kept moist and warm. The blades push up thick and fast, and the young grass fills the tray with the dense green. It grows on well in the open ground, and it stands up to the dry spells once the roots run deep. Sow it for the quick cover on the bare banks, and keep it watered until the clumps close over. The seed heads follow through the late summer, and the tufts spread into the tough, forgiving sward that holds the soil.

To grow the woolly cupgrass from seed, sow the small, pointed seeds thinly over the surface of the cell tray of fine, sandy loam, keep the tray in the warm, bright spot and mist gently. The seedlings push through within a couple of weeks, and they grow on fast. Keep the young clumps in the moist, open ground, and the woolly heads will bristle through the summer.