Tripsacum latifolium Hitchc., Poaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: wideleaf gamagrass

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Coarse perennial; culms as much as 6 meters high, glabrous, bearing slender branches from the upper nodes; blades 70 cm to more than 1 meter long, 2.5-8 cm wide, acuminate, especially the lower ones narrowed to a petiole-like base, papillose-pilose or papillose-hispid above, nearly glabrous beneath; spikes 2 or 3 in the terminal inflorescences, solitary on the branches, slender, drooping, both staminate spikelets of each pair sessile or subsessile, 4-6 mm long, obtuse, rather densely pubescent, the keels hispid toward the summit; joints of the pistillate part of the spike 5-7 mm long, the spikelet broadly ovate" (Stone, 1970; p. 240).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  In Guatemala, "river banks, ravines, and open hills, sometimes forming extensive stands, up to 1,100 meters" (Swallen, 1955; p. 363).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Mexico, Central America, West Indies (GRIN; Swallen, 1955; p. 363).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced invasive	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 240) Present status unknown. Persisting from plantings.
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 62)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Comments:  An invasive grass.

Control:  If you know of control methods for Tripsacum latifolium, please let us know.