Eragrostis pilosa (L.) Beauv., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Eragrostis multicaulis Steud.; Poa pilosa L.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: hua mei cao

English: India love grass, Indian love grass, Jersey lovegrass, hairy love grass, pilose eragrostis, small tufted lovegrass, soft lovegrass, spear grass

French: éragrostide poilue, pâturin poilu

Spanish: barba de indio, pasto ilusión, pasto pelillo, sereno

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Loosely tufted annual up to 70 cm tall; culms erect or ascending.  Leaf sheaths glabrous; leaf blades linear, flat, attenuate, up to 20 cm x 0.4 cm, glabrous. Panicles open, elliptic to ovate, 4-25 cm long, lowest branches whorled except in smallest panicles, capillary, usually with a few long white hairs in axils; spikelets purplish green, linear-ovate, ca 0.5 mm long, nerveless, upper ovate, acute, 1-1.5 mm long, 1-nerved; lemmas broadly ovate, blunt to subacute, 1.3-2 mm long, obscurely 3-nerved, minutely scabrid along keel" (Stanley & Ross, 1989; vol. 3, p. 169).

"Annual, tufted, culms slender, up to 1 m high; leaf-blades relatively short and narrow, up to 3 mm broad; panicle delicate, open, 5-20 cm long, grayish, branches spreading or ascending; spikelets dark, 4-10 flowered, about 6 mm long; glumes and lemmas 3-nerved"  (Stone, 1970; p. 191).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  "Although it prefers moist pastures and open, disturbed ground, it also frequents roadsides and waste places that are often seasonally dry and only infrequently disturbed.  It may appear at altitudes of 500 to 3200 m"  (Holm et al., 1997; p. 347).

In Hawai‘i, "adventive in arid, disturbed sites" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1538, 1908).  In Fiji, "from sea level to about 800 m, sprawling or in dense clumps on hillsides, in swamps, on cultivated land, and along roadsides"  (Smith, 1979; p 301). "Naturalized sparingly in Guam" (Stone, 1970; p. 191). In American Samoa and Samoa, "uncommon in disturbed places" (Whistler, 1988; p. 52).

Propagation:  Seed.  "Water, wind, and soil movement are the most likely dispersal agents, with help from man.  It spreads with hay movement and perhaps in crop seed." Also spread by machinery and road and railroad traffic (Holm et al., 1997; p. 348).

Native range:  Southern Europe and most tropical and subtropical parts of the Old World (Stone, 1970; p. 191).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
American Samoa Manu‘a Islands	Ofu Island		Whistler, W. A. (1990) Voucher cited: Whistler 3051
American Samoa Tutuila Islands	Tutuila Island		Whistler, W. A. (1988) (p. 52) As E. multicaulis. Voucher cited: Lamoureux 3065
Federated States of Micronesia Chuuk Islands	Weno (Moen) Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 42)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 42)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced invasive	Herrera, Katherine/Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy/Balick, Michael J. (2010) (p. 57) Naturalized
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 301) Vouchers cited: Greenwood 2, DA 8220, DA 8203, DA 2835, Greenwood 1175, DA 7967, DA 10168, DA 7915, DA 2832, DA 4005, Billespie 3572, C.R. Turbet 40, DA 9092
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced invasive	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 191) Sparingly naturalized.
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 42)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (pp. 45-46) Vouchers cited: T. Flynn 630 (BISH, PTBG), D. Lorence & P. O'Connor 5761 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. (1998) (pp. 27-28) Voucher cited: Munro 466 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Snow, Neil/Lau, Alex (2010) (p. 51) Voucher cited: O. & I. Degener 25648 (BISH)
Japan (offshore islands) Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands	Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands	introduced	Kato, Hidetoshi (2007)
Kiribati Line Islands	Kiritimati (Christmas) Atoll	introduced invasive	Wester, Lyndon (1985) (p. 16)
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 92)
Palau Palau (Belau ) (main island group)	Babeldaob Island		Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.) (1982) (voucher ID: BNM 3174) Taxon name on voucher: Eragrostis pilosa
Palau Palau (Belau ) (main island group)	Koror (Oreor) Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 42)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)		Henty, E. E. (1969) (p. 93) A common weed of cultivation and roadsides.
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 345)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	introduced invasive	Merrill, Elmer D. (1925) (p. 90) A weed in open waste places, of recent introduction, but now locally abundants.
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 345)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Whistler, W. A. (1988) (p. 52) As E. multicaulis. Voucher cited: Whistler 2073
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands	introduced	Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. (1988) (p. 71)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2013) Naturalised
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2013) Victoria Naturalised
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2013) Naturalised
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2013) Naturalised
British Columbia (province of Canada) Province of British Columbia	Canada (British Columbia)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2013)
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	El Salvador (Republic of)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Naturalized
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Guatemala (Republic of)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Naturalized
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Honduras (Republic of)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Naturalized
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) Open grasslands. Anhui, Beijing, Fujian, Guizhou, Hainan, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shandong, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang.
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 335) var. imberbis Franch. Along roadside, in field and grassland.
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Japan Japan	Japan	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Japan Japan	Japan	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 192)
North Korea North Korea	North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South Korea South Korea	South Korea (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Naturalized
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	uncertain if introduced invasive	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 39) Weed of uncertain origin
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Chile (Republic of)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Naturalized
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Colombia	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Naturalized
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Naturalized
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Perú (Republic of)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Naturalized
Taiwan Taiwan Island	Taiwan Island	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) Open grasslands.
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 145)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Oregon)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2013)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2013)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Washington)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2013)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Christmas Island Group	Christmas Island	introduced invasive	Swarbrick, J. T. (1997) (p. 113)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Canada Canada	Canada	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2013)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2013)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2013)

Control:  If you know of control methods for Eragrostis pilosa, please let us know.