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Hyparrhenia rufa

Common Name: jaragua

Family: Poaceae

Common Synonyms: Andropogon rufus, Cymbopogon rufus

USDA Hardiness Zone: 8b-11a

Growth Habit: Graminoid

Origin: Africa

FISC Category: 2

FDACS Listed Noxious Weed: No

Introduction Date: Earliest Florida voucher 1922

IFAS Assessment:

  • North: HIGH INVASION RISK
  • Central: HIGH INVASION RISK
  • South: HIGH INVASION RISK
Hyparrhenia rufa
Forest and Kim Starr, Starr Environmental, Bugwood.org

Description

A perennial grass, sometimes growing as an annual, forms dense clumps from rhizomes. The stalks range from 30 cm to 3.5 m tall.

Habitat

Canal banks, flatwoods, and disturbed sites.

Comments

Well adapted to fire, both making fires more severe and proliferating after fire. Prefers habitats that fluctuate between wet and dry.

Map of species distribution

Control Methods

  • Manual: NA
  • Chemical: 2% glyphosate [HEAR, http://www.hear.org/Pier/pdf/pohreports/hyparrhenia_rufa.pdf]
  • Biological: NA

Control Notes

NA

References

D'Antonio, C. M. and P. M. Vitousek. (1992). Biological invasions by exotic grasses, the grass/fire cycle, and global change. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 23(1), 63-87.

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