Sporobolus spicatus seed
LATIN NAME: Sporobolus spicatus
COMMON NAME: Spiked Dropseed
The spiked dropseed bends the fine, slender stems under the narrow, airy panicles, and the whole grass carries the light, pale look of the salt flat. The low, tufted, perennial grass of the salty places carries the fine, narrow, stiff, grey-green leaves and the narrow, erect, densely packed, pale panicles with the many tiny spikelets through the warm season, one of the quiet, steady sights of the salt flat, drawing the bees, to be followed by the many tiny, rounded grains. The dense, hardy growth has a very long record as the grazing of the salty lands, and the grass is a historic presence of the salt flat. It is a grass of the open, sunny, light, sandy, free-draining ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The spiked dropseed is a historic subject of the plant science, and the pale panicles keep showing up in the work on the grasses of the salty places. The way the narrow, erect, densely packed, pale panicles with the many tiny spikelets form on the fine stems has been examined closely, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the salt-tolerant grasses, the stiff leaves and the members of the grass family. The dense clumps and the hardy ways have also made it a fine study grass, and the spiked dropseed is a regular subject of the work on the pale panicles of the salty world.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The spiked dropseed is a quiet, useful grass of the salt flat and the study collection. The fine, narrow, stiff, grey-green leaves in the low, tufted clumps carry the pale look of the salt flat, one of the quiet, steady sights of the salt flat, drawing the bees, and the dense, hardy growth has a very long record as the grazing of the salty lands, the fine, hardy forage coming to the herds and the steady grazing of the old lands, while the narrow, erect, densely packed, pale panicles rise through the warm season, to be followed by the many tiny, rounded grains. It is one of the fine choices for the salt flat, the seaside bed and the study collection, and it has been written up in the agricultural and the botanical papers for the hardy forage and the fine, dense ways. It is a quiet, useful grass of the open, sunny, light, sandy, free-draining ground.
The dropseed seeds grow well in a light, sandy mix in full sun, watered sparingly. The young grasses are tough and quick, and they are happy in the light, free-draining ground of the dry or salty garden without much care.
To grow the spiked dropseed from seed, broadcast the tiny seeds over the surface of the seed flat of light, sandy soil, then firm them down, keep the flat in a bright, warm spot and water sparingly, then set the young grasses out in the open ground. The seedlings show themselves within a couple of weeks and grow on fast. With the sun and the light, sandy ground, the pale panicles will rise over the warm months.
Landscape utility:Green
Sporobolus spicatus/salt grass