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Summary
Duration	Annual
Growth Habit	Graminoid
U.S. Nativity	Native to U.S.
Federal T/E Status
National Wetland Indicator	OBL
Morphology/Physiology
Active Growth Period	Spring and Summer
After Harvest Regrowth Rate	Slow
Bloat
C:N Ratio	Medium
Coppice Potential	No
Fall Conspicuous	No
Fire Resistant	No
Flower Color	Yellow
Flower Conspicuous	Yes
Foliage Color	Green
Foliage Porosity Summer	Moderate
Foliage Porosity Winter	Porous
Foliage Texture	Medium
Fruit/Seed Color	Brown
Fruit/Seed Conspicuous	No
Growth Form	Bunch
Growth Rate	Moderate
Height at 20 Years, Maximum (feet)
Height, Mature (feet)	3
Known Allelopath	No
Leaf Retention	No
Lifespan	Moderate
Low Growing Grass	Yes
Nitrogen Fixation
Resprout Ability	No
Shape and Orientation	Erect
Toxicity	None
Growth Requirements
Adapted to Coarse Textured Soils	No
Adapted to Fine Textured Soils	Yes
Adapted to Medium Textured Soils	Yes
Anaerobic Tolerance	High
CaCO3 Tolerance	Low
Cold Stratification Required	No
Drought Tolerance	None
Fertility Requirement	Medium
Fire Tolerance	High
Frost Free Days, Minimum	100
Hedge Tolerance	None
Moisture Use	High
pH, Minimum	5.5
pH, Maximum	7.5
Planting Density per Acre, Minimum
Planting Density per Acre, Maximum
Precipitation, Minimum	30
Precipitation, Maximum	60
Root Depth, Minimum (inches)	16
Salinity Tolerance	Medium
Shade Tolerance	Intermediate
Temperature, Minimum (°F)	-33
Reproduction
Bloom Period	Mid Spring
Commercial Availability	Routinely Available
Fruit/Seed Abundance	High
Fruit/Seed Period Begin	Spring
Fruit/Seed Period End	Summer
Fruit/Seed Persistence	No
Propagated by Bare Root	No
Propagated by Bulb	No
Propagated by Container	No
Propagated by Corm	No
Propagated by Cuttings	No
Propagated by Seed	Yes
Propagated by Sod	No
Propagated by Sprigs	No
Propagated by Tubers	No
Seed per Pound	238000
Seed Spread Rate	Moderate
Seedling Vigor	High
Small Grain	No
Vegetative Spread Rate	None
Suitability/Use
Berry/Nut/Seed Product	No
Christmas Tree Product	No
Fodder Product	No
Fuelwood Product	None
Lumber Product	No
Naval Store Product	No
Nursery Stock Product	No
Palatable Browse Animal	Medium
Palatable Graze Animal	Low
Palatable Human	No
Post Product	No
Protein Potential	Low
Pulpwood Product	No
Veneer Product	No

 

Kingdom  Plantae -- Plants

Subkingdom  Tracheobionta -- Vascular plants

Superdivision  Spermatophyta -- Seed plants

Division  Magnoliophyta -- Flowering plants

Class  Liliopsida -- Monocotyledons

Subclass  Commelinidae

Order  Cyperales

Family  Poaceae -- Grass family

Genus  Beckmannia Host -- sloughgrass P

Species  Beckmannia syzigachne (Steud.) Fern. -- American sloughgrass P

 

Alternate Names

Other common names include western sloughgrass, caterpillar grass.

 

Uses

American sloughgrass is native cool season grass important for wetland restoration as well as erosion control along ditches, streams, waterways, and the shorelines of lakes or ponds.  It is valuable as a wetland forage species and is hayed or grazed in some regions.  The seeds provide important food for waterfowl, seed-eating birds, and small mammals.  The species has been commonly sown for wetland wildlife habitat. Palatability is rated high for all classes of livestock.  It provides relatively quick and reliable cover under appropriate growing conditions.

 

Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural Resources for this plant’s current status (e.g. threatened or endangered species, state noxious status, and wetland indicator values).

 

Description and Adaptation

American sloughgrass is an annual or short-lived perennial bunchgrass with stout, leafy stems (culms) that are 60 to 100 cm tall.  The flower head (inflorescence) is a very narrow, upright spike, 20 to 30 cm long.  It has a double row of densely compacted, 1-flowered spikelets on one side of the panicle branches. The seed with hull attached is nearly flat and disk-like in shape. This species occurs in the cooler parts of North America, particularly the north central and northwestern United States, as well as southern Canada, Alaska, and a portion of eastern Europe and Asia. However, it is not found at mid or high elevations and has not been collected in western Washington.  Seedling vigor and establishment are moderately rapid.  The plant flowers in June and goes to seed in July or August in western Oregon.

 

Adaptation: American sloughgrass is best adapted to poorly drained, irrigated, and somewhat acidic to alkaline soils with shallow water tables.  It performs best on clay soils covered with a thin layer of organic matter, but grows on coarser substrates as well. Habitats include marshes, vernal pools and depressions within wetland prairies, pond shores, shallow water, and other flooded or seasonally wet sites.  American sloughgrass thrives where the soils are saturated at or near the surface year round.  It will also maintain itself under continuous, year round flooding up to 10 cm deep.  Studies have shown that survival rapidly declines beginning at depths of 15 cm and beyond.  It is intolerant of summer dry soils and shade.

 

Relative abundance in the wild: High in western Oregon. This species may be scarce or rare in other parts of its natural range.  Individual plants usually contain many seed heads, which produce abundant seed.  The seed does not shatter readily which creates a large window of time for easy collection.

 

Establishment

American sloughgrass lacks complex seed dormancy characteristics and rapidly colonizes mudflats or other recently exposed moist soil.  Reports of percent seed germination vary, but it may be improved by rubbing or hulling the seed (and in turn possible light abrasion of the seed coat), and by providing alternating temperature regimes. The best time to plant is in the fall, or as a dormant seeding, which will promote early spring establishment. Surface sown seed readily floats and migrates with flowing water, so insure adequate but shallow soil or mulch coverage. Generally, stands decline after three to five years on adapted sites. There are 240,000 seeds/lb (+/- 20%) with hulls intact.  Recommended single species seeding rates can vary widely, depending on the site and purpose of the planting.  Range is 5-18 lbs/ac.  One lb of live seed per acre is equivalent to 5 to 6 live seeds per square foot.

 

Management

In the Northern Plains, forage production is considered moderate to high.  As a short-lived species, a pattern of deferred, rotational

grazing may be needed every two or three years to allow for seed production and natural regeneration of

the stand.  It will require a high water table or regular irrigation during the dry season.  Sloughgrass has the ability to readily volunteer on exposed mudflats or other moist, disturbed ground and produce

abundant seed crops.  This makes it a good candidate for moist soil management (slow de-watering, disking, etc.) of certain wetlands and shallow water impoundments for waterfowl, shorebird, and other wildlife habitat.

 

Environmental Concerns

Relatively narrow ecological adaptation.  While sloughgrass is usually replaced by more competitive grasses over time, it is sometimes considered weedy in low lying seed production field of introduced grasses in western Oregon.  It can volunteer readily after tillage.

 

Cultivars, Improved, and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

‘Egan’ American sloughgrass was released as a cultivar by the Alaska Plant Materials Center in Palmer, Alaska in 1986 for wetland reclamation. Seed sources are relatively common for western Oregon, Alaska, and the north central US, but less so elsewhere.

 

Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil Conservation Service) office for more information.  Look in the phone book under ”United States Government”.  The Natural Resources Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading “Department of Agriculture.”

 

Prepared By:

Dale Darris and Amy Bartow, USDA NRCS Plant Materials Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

 

Species Coordinator:

Dale Darris, USDA NRCS Plant Materials Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

 

Edited: 16mar2006 jsp

 

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS Web site<https://plants.usda.gov> or the Plant Materials Program Web site <https://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov>

 

 

 

Attribution:  U.S. Department of Agriculture