BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Panicum hemitomon | Maidencane 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Maidencane is a native, warm-season, rhizomatous, perennial grass [28].
Culms are stout, 1.6 to 6 feet (0.5-1.8 m) tall [20,28], and erect or
sprawling [39]; culms often produce roots at lower submersed nodes
[12,14].  Culms can be fertile or sterile [6].  Leaf blades are 8 to 12
inches (20-30 cm) long and 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) wide [28].  The
inflorescence is a slender, compact panicle 2.4 to 12 inches (6-30 cm)
long [14,20] with ascending branches [39].  The fruit is a caryopsis
[17].  The extensive creeping rhizomes are elongated [15,28]; they often
produce numerous sterile shoots with overlapping sheaths [20].  The
canelike air-filled roots [43] form a compact mass 15 to 18 inches
(38-46 cm) in thickness [34].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte
   Hydrophyte
   Helophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Maidencane propagates primarily by rhizomes [29,48], but also fruits
abundantly during wet years that follow periods of drought [29].
Maidencane can sprout from culm nodes.  When these culms float free,
each becomes a vegetative propagule which can establish in a new site
[31].

Maidencane in freshwater marshes in Louisiana may become elevated on
peat soils of its own origin, so that its roots and rhizomes are above
the more stable lower soils.  If the water level of the basin rises to
where the root anchorage of maidencane can no longer hold against the
buoyant stress of its air-filled roots, the entire vegetative crust will
break away and form a floating marsh [34].

During periods of rising water maidencane grows rapidly, maintaining
sparse stands in 3 feet (0.9 m) or more of water for 9 months to a year
[29].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Maidencane occurs in freshwater marshes [28], swamps [12], ponds [14],
on wet shores [12], along riverbanks [6,20], ditches [28], drainage
canals [15], and on wet disturbed sites [52].

Maidencane is strictly a freshwater species [22,34].  It does not occur
in marshlands that have even slightly brackish water [28,36].  It can
occur as an emergent in water or as a terrestrial plant in moist areas
[45,48]; it generally attains its greatest density on the drier sites
[29].

Maidencane grows best if the water level fluctuates from 2 inches above
soil surface to 4 inches below [28].  However, it is found in areas that
have a wide range of hydroperiods, and it shows considerable tolerance
for both flooding and dry conditions.  Maidencane occurs on wet soils of
beaches which are never flooded [48].  It is widespread in the
Everglades, where water levels fluctuate widely [29,45,51].  It occurs
in the Big Cypress Swamp of southwestern Florida in areas which are
flooded to a depth of 3.9 inches (10 cm) 120 days during the summer wet
season [2].  Maidencane is dominant in Florida wet marshes, where
hydroperiods are 50 to 150 days per year and in Florida flag marshes,
where the hydroperiod varies from 180 to 270 days per year and water
depth is between 1 and 3.3 feet (0.3-1.0 m) [27].  In south Florida,
maidencane is usually found where the soil is inundated 200 to 250 days
annually [18].  In the marshes of the upper St. Johns River in Florida,
maidencane grows where the hydroperiod exceeds 290 days [27].

Maidencane grows on a wide range of soils, from firm mineral clays to
floating organic soils [28].  It occurs on a hard clay pond bottom
covered with a thin layer of muck in Leon County, Florida [48].  It
grows on sandy loam or loamy sand above impenetrable limestone bedrock
in Liberty County, Florida [44].  It is found on sandy soil with no
detectable organic material in Big Cypress Swamp [2].  It occurs in
Florida wet prairies where organic matter accumulation ranges from zero
to a few inches; it occurs on sandy substrates where organic matter
accumulation is less than 3 feet (1 m) in Florida flag marshes.  Florida
maidencane flatwood marshes on sandy substrates typically have a
sphagnum (Sphagnum spp.) moss mat [27].  Maidencane occurs in
south-central Louisiana floating marshes, where its roots are embedded
in floating peat [34,37].  Maidencane is found on acid soils developed
from sands and clays in cypress heads of north-central peninsular
Florida [33]; in coastal Louisiana, it is found in freshwater marshes
where pH ranges from 4.3 to 6.3 [5].

Climate in the maritime communities of the southeastern United States is
characterized by mild winters with high humidity and long, hot, humid
summers.  In the regions in which maidencane occurs, winter temperatures
are usually moderated by prevailing winds off large bodies of water.
Rainfall patterns vary over the range of maidencane.  In southwestern
Florida the dry season occurs from October through May; the wet season
is from June through September [23].  The rainfall along the Louisiana
coast is well distributed throughout the year, with the maximum in July
and the minimum in October [5].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Maidencane is usually found on open sites, but is sometimes found in
sparser stands under partial canopy shade.

Maidencane in marshes of Sarasota and Manatee counties of Florida was
not found under canopy cover of red maple (Acer rubrum), buttonbush,
Coastal Plain willow (Salix caroliniana), popash (Fraximus caroliniana),
or laurel oak (Quercus laurifolia).  It was a dominant in adjacent areas
without canopy cover [23].

Maidencane succeeds cattail or sawgrass in the eastern region of
freshwater marshes along the Gulf Coast [1].

When shallow marshes in Florida are completely replaced by woody
thickets, maidencane disappears.  Relatively frequent fires coupled with
fluctuating water levels maintain the integrity of Florida marshes and
arrest succession [27].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Maidencane sprouts from rhizomes in late winter and grows until fall.
Aboveground stems die back in winter [27,38]; where frost occurs, they
die back immediately after first frost [28].  Rafts of recumbent leaves
are produced when aboveground portions die [27].

Maidencane in freshwater marshes bordering Lac des Allemands in
Louisiana was dormant in January and February, having no live leaf
biomass.  It began growing from rhizomes in March, reached its highest
live leaf biomass from July through November, and decreased rapidly in
December [38].

Maidencane in wet meadows at Paynes Prairie in central Florida was
dormant from the last week in October to the end of January.  It resumed
growth the first week of February, and continued growth to the third
week in May.  Inflorescences developed and expanded from the last week
of May through the first week of June.  Flowering occurred the second
week of June, and fruit dispersed from the middle of June to the middle
of July.  Maidencane remained green until the last week of September,
when it began to dry as it approached dormancy [35].

Because of their relatively short hydroperiods, flatwoods marshes in
Florida experience marked seasonal variation in dominance.  In
maidencane flag marshes, maidencane and floating heart are dominant in
spring, but beakrush and bald rush (Psilocarya nitens) become more
apparent as the dry season progresses [27].

Maidencane blooms in June and July in New Jersey [12] and the Carolinas
[39]; it blooms in May and June in panhandle Florida [6].

Related categories for Species: Panicum hemitomon | Maidencane