BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Eremochloa ophiuroides | Centipede Grass 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Centipede grass is an introduced warm-season, turf-forming, perennial
grass with prostrate growth form [14].  It creeps by thick, short-noded,
leafy stolons [16].  It has compressed racemes [13] 1.2 to 2 inches (3-5
cm) long.  Spikelets are flat, two-flowered [6], and awnless [13].  The
fruit is a caryopsis [16].  Centipede grass has greater root mass in the
top 4 inches (10 cm) of soil than do some other warm-season turf
grasses.  It also has high root density, length, and mass at all depths
to which its roots grow [9].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Centipede grass sprouts from stolons and reproduces by seed [34].
Raceme production is prolific throughout the Southeast from summer to
fall [19].  Seed set in an experimental setting was 59 to 90 percent
with open-pollination, 45 to 66 percent with cross-pollination, and 0 to
58 percent with self-pollination [15].  Centipede grass has low seed
yield compared to many other turf grasses [25].  The caryopsis is
enclosed in a wax coating which is a physical barrier to germination.
Centipede grass apparently requires alternating temperature regimes for
optimum germination.  In laboratory studies, maximum germination of
centipede grass occurred when warm temperatures (80 to 95 degrees
Fahrenheit [27-35 deg C]) with 8 to 12 hours of light were alternated
with lower temperatures (59 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit [15-20 deg C]) and
darkness [2,33].

Centipede grass produces new stolons each growing season.  These runners
replace the live growth of the previous year.  They grow over the top of
the latter, developing a thick, spongy thatch.  Centipede grass does
not produce rhizomes [26].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Centipede grass grows under cultivation [13,16] and also occurs on sandy
roadsides in the Carolinas [28]; it is found on disturbed sites in
central Florida [35] and is naturalized in coastal hammocks in the
Florida panhandle [6].

Typically, centipede grass grows on the sandy acid soils of the
southeastern United States [15].  Centipede grass does not thrive on
soils with high levels of phosphorus or high pH [34]. However, studies
in Texas have shown that satisfactory turfs can be grown with soil pH up
to 8.4 [14].  Centipede grass in north-central Florida grew best when
planted in soil of pH 5.8; inoculation with vesicular-arbuscular
mycorrhizae (VAM) did not improve topgrowth at that pH.  At soil pH 7.3,
VAM infection increased topgrowth 1.8 times over the uninoculated
treatment [8].  Centipede grass does not grow well on poorly drained
soil [34] but is adapted to low fertility soils [19].

Centipede grass grows on sandy and silty loams in Macon County, Alabama
[25], and on fine sand in southeastern Florida [5].  In southeastern
Louisiana it grows on silty loam with pH 6.7 [1].

Although most of the range to which centipede grass is adapted is humid,
with 30 to 59 inches (750-1,500 mm) of rain annually, drought conditions
occur during most growing seasons [17].

Centipede grass is a tropical grass that has no natural winter rest
period.  If temperatures drop fairly slowly and steadily, the grass
adjusts and tolerates temperatures well below freezing before it dies
[26].  In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, lethal temperatures ranged from about
17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit (-7 to -8 deg C) in February and March
during active growth to 15.8 degrees Fahrenheit (-9 deg C) in December
and January [11].  Centipede grass has survived 12 degrees Fahrenheit
(-11.1 deg C) in Mississippi [26].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Centipede grass grows well in full sun, but it may also tolerate shade
[23,34].  A centipede grass cultivar and three other lawn grasses were
tested for shade tolerance in southeastern Louisiana.  The experimental
conditrions simulated those under Gulf Coast deciduous shade trees.
Centipede grass was the species most tolerant of reduced light (47-63%
shade) [1].  In another study in northeastern Texas, seven centipede
grass cultivars were tested at 15 percent full sunlight under tree
canopy.  No cultivar produced acceptable turf under these conditions.
Vegetative spread was minimal or absent [27].  Information on centipede
grass successional status in naturalized conditions was unavailable.


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Centipede grass seed usually requires 21 to 28 days to germinate [34].

Centipede grass blooms in August and September in the Carolinas [28].
It blooms from summer to fall in the Florida panhandle [6] and central
Florida [35].

Centipede grass seeds are mature at the end of October in southeastern
Alabama [25].  Centipede grass seed is produced in north Florida and
south Georgia from mid-June until late October [2].

Related categories for Species: Eremochloa ophiuroides | Centipede Grass