Tripsacum latifolium Hitchc., Poaceae

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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
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Comments:  An invasive grass.

Additional information:
Additional online information about Tripsacum latifolium is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Tripsacum latifolium as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Tripsacum latifolium may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1987. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian monocotyledonae. Micronesica 20:1-126.

Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.

Swallen, Jason R./McClure, F. A. 1955. Flora of Guatemala. Grasses of Guatemala. Fieldiana: Botany. Vol. 24, Part II. Chicago Natural History Museum. 390 pp.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.