Paspalum wettsteinii Seeds | Wettstein Paspalum

Open airy seed heads of Wettstein Paspalum (Paspalum wettsteinii) above coarse leaves — Wettstein Paspalum (*Paspalum wettsteinii*): Poaceae, a robust forage grass of the moist grasslands of southern South America.

LATIN NAME: Paspalum wettsteinii

COMMON NAME: Wettstein Paspalum

Plant Profile

Wettstein paspalum is a robust perennial grass of southern South America, native to the moist grasslands of southern Brazil, Uruguay and northeastern Argentina. It grows in dense tussocks up to a metre and a half tall, with broad, coarse leaves and stout creeping rhizomes that hold soil.

The seed heads are open and airy, and they keep their shape into autumn. The plant is one of the grasses that colonise damp, disturbed ground quickly, which is why it is used on banks and ditches as well as in pasture. The leaves are rough to the touch, and the ligule at the junction of blade and stem is long and membranous.

Science & Biotechnology

The species is studied as a forage grass in its native region, where it is valued for producing feed on wet, heavy ground that defeats other pasture species. Research has compared its digestibility and growth with those of other Paspalum species, and has looked at its response to grazing and to flooding.

Its rhizome system has been examined for the way it binds soil, and its seed production has been measured because seed set is uneven between years. The genus includes several important forage and turf grasses, and P. wettsteinii is one of the less widely planted of them.

Uses & Benefits

In South America it is cut for hay and grazed in wet paddocks, and it is planted along ditches and banks to control erosion. In the garden it is grown for its architectural clumps and its late seed heads, which stand well into winter.

Its seed feeds finches and sparrows in autumn, and the tussocks give cover for insects and small mammals in damp ground. It suits a damp meadow, the edge of a pond or a low-lying corner that stays wet through winter. In a garden it can be used as a screen at the edge of a pond.

The grass is also used in mixtures for wet pasture, where its early growth fills the gap before summer grasses come away, and it is cut for silage in districts too wet for lucerne. Its rhizomes make it useful on the banks of irrigation channels, where other grasses wash out.

Growing from Seed

Sow in spring at 18-22C on the surface of moist compost, since light aids germination. Keep the tray wet and warm; germination is usually within three weeks.

Plant out in full sun in damp or wet soil, and do not let the young plants dry out in their first summer. Cut the old growth back in late winter to make room for new shoots. In a wet meadow, sow it with rushes and sedges, since it competes poorly with tall, vigorous grasses in rich ground. Seed heads should be cut before they shatter if the grass is being grown for hay.

Our Take

A coarse, tough grass for wet ground, more useful than beautiful. It earns its place where the soil stays damp and the job is to hold a bank.

Herb Seeds