weeping lovegrass USDA PLANTS Symbol: ERCU2
U.S. Nativity: Exotic
Habit: Grass or Grasslike
Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees

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Taxonomic Rank: Liliopsida: Cyperales: Poaceae
Synonym(s): Boer love grass
Native Range: Africa (); S. Africa (BAIL)

Appearance
Eragrostis curvula is a warm-season, perennial grass that can grow to 4 ft. (1.2 m) tall.
Foliage
Leaves are arched, 0.11-0.16 in. (3-4 mm) wide, flat, with ciliate ligules. Sheaths have long hairs inside the upper margin and along the collar. Spikelets are nodding, 0.2-0.4 in. (4-10 mm) long, 0.06-0.07 in. (1.5-2 mm) wide and gray-green.
Flowers
Flower spikelets are elongated, flattened, and have 4 to 13 small flowers. Flowering occurs during early summer and continues through fall.
Fruit
Seed heads are panicles that contain many tiny seeds. The seed heads can grow from 30-40 in. (0.8-1 m) tall
Ecological Threat
Eragrostis curvula inhabits disturbed places such as roadsides and is native to South Africa. It has been planted for erosion control in the southwestern United States and is also used widely as an ornamental.

Identification, Biology, Control and Management Resources

Selected Images from Invasive.orgView All Images at Invasive.org


Plant(s); habit
Forest and Kim Starr, Starr Environmental, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage

Plant(s); habit
Forest and Kim Starr, Starr Environmental, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage

Plant(s); habit
Forest and Kim Starr, Starr Environmental, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage

Plant(s); habit
Forest and Kim Starr, Starr Environmental, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage

Plant(s); habit
Forest and Kim Starr, Starr Environmental, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage

Plant(s); habit
Forest and Kim Starr, Starr Environmental, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage

Plant(s); Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase). 1950. Manual of the grasses of the United States. USDA Misc. Publ. No. 200. Washington, DC.
USDA NRCS PLANTS Database , USDA NRCS PLANTS Database, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage

Seed(s);
Steve Hurst, USDA NRCS PLANTS Database, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage

Flower(s); inflorescence.
Joseph M. DiTomaso, University of California - Davis, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage

Stem(s); tuft of hairs at base of inflorescence branches.
Joseph M. DiTomaso, University of California - Davis, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage

Stem(s); collar and sheath.
Joseph M. DiTomaso, University of California - Davis, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage

Spikelet(s); Spikelet tip with two fertile florets still attached. Note that the brown caryopses can be seen through the ± translucent lemmas.
D. Walters and C. Southwick, USDA, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage

EDDMapS Distribution:
This map is incomplete and is based only on current site and county level reports made by experts and records obtained from USDA Plants Database. For more information, visit www.eddmaps.org
 


State List
This map identifies those states that list this species on their invasive species list or law.

U.S. National Parks where reported invasive:
Chiricahua National Monument (Arizona)
Colonial National Historical Park (Virginia)
Fort Bowie National Historic Site (Arizona)
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (Utah)
Stones River National Battlefield (Tennessee)



Invasive Listing Sources:
Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council
Jil M. Swearingen, Survey of invasive plants occurring on National Park Service lands, 2000-2007
John Randall, The Nature Conservancy, Survey of TNC Preserves, 1995.
Kentucky Exotic Pest Plant Council
Maryland Cooperative Extension Service.  2003. Invasive Plant Control in Maryland. Home and Garden Information Center, Home and Garden Mimeo HG88. 4 pp.
Non-Native Invasive Plants of Arlington County, Virginia
Non-Native Invasive Plants of the City of Alexandria, Virginia
South Carolina Exotic Pest Plant Council
WeedUS - Database of Plants Invading Natural Areas in the United States
West Virginia Native Plant Society, Flora West Virginia Project, and West Virginia Curatorial Database System, September 3, 1999