Japanese Stilt Grass, Napalese Browntop

Growth Form:  Grass

General:   Annual, sprawling habit, vegetative reproduction common by rooting from stem. Usually 1.5-3 ft. high in a branching, mat-forming manner.

Flowers:   Flower spikelets delicate and paired; one spikelet not on a stalk, the other on a pedicle.

Fruits and Seeds:  

Leaves:   Leaves pale green, narrow, 5-8 cm long with a silver stripe of reflective hairs down the middle of the upper leaf surface.

Stems or Branches:  

Threatens:   Forest wetlands, floodplain forest, moist woodlands, riparian corridors, disturbed areas. Grows in both shade and sun.

Look-Alikes:   White grass (Leerzia virginica), native, is rough to touch, no reflective hairs, does not root from stem. Common Wood Reed (Cinna arundinacea), native, erect, 0.5 - 1.5 m tall, leaves 10 - 20 cm long, spike robust.

Distribution:   Native to temperate and tropical Asia. Found from TX into NE and SE U.S.

Other Links:  

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=MIVI
http://www.invasive.org/browse/subject.cfm?sub=3051
http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/subimages.cfm?SUB=3051