St. Augustine grass (''Stenotaphrum secundatum''), also known as buffalo turf in Australia and buffalo grass in South Africa, is a species of grass in the family

Poaceae Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

. It is a warm-season

lawn grass A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawnmower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. L ...

that is popular for cultivation in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

regions. It is a medium- to high-maintenance grass that forms a thick, carpetlike sod, crowding out most

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

s and other grasses.

Characteristics

St. Augustine is a dark green grass with broad, flat blades. It spreads by aboveground

stolon In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external s ...

s, commonly known as "runners", and forms a dense layer. The grass occurs on both sides of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, including much of the southeastern United States, Texas, Mexico, and Central and South America. It has escaped cultivation in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, Hawaii, many Pacific islands,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

. St. Augustine grass occurs in most

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

areas. It grows best in tropical climates. It is often seen in

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons ...

s and

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found ...

es, on shorelines, and wherever there is a good amount of moisture.

Planting and propagation

Only recently has commercially valuable and viable seed for St. Augustine become available, so it has typically been propagated by plugs, sprigs, or sod. Once the grass is cultivated, it can propagate on its own. St. Augustine can grow in a wide range of soil types with a pH between 5.0 and 8.5. It usually blooms in spring and summer.

Uses

St. Augustine grass is commonly used in pastures and on ranches. It is a popular lawn grass, rivalling

bermudagrass ''Cynodon dactylon'', commonly known as Bermuda grass, is a grass found worldwide. It is native to Europe, Africa, Australia and much of Asia. It has been introduced to the Americas. Although it is not native to Bermuda, it is an abundant invasi ...

, though St. Augustine is somewhat less

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

-tolerant.

Cultivars

A number of

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s have been developed:Trenholm, L. E., et al
St. Augustinegrass for Florida Lawns.
Publication #ENH5. University of Florida IFAS. 1991. Revised 2011. *'Captiva' - released in 2007. Developed by the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

for its resistance to the southern chinch bugBuss, E. A
"Southern Chinch Bug Management on St. Augustinegrass".
Publication #ENY-325. University of Florida IFAS. 1993. Revised 2010. and its dwarf profile, which requires less mowing. *'Floratam' - released in 1973. Developed during an academic collaboration between the University of Florida and

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

. Resists the viral infection St. Augustine decline (SAD). Not as cold- or shade-tolerant. *'Floratine' - released in 1959. Has a darker color and finer texture. Tolerates lower temperatures and needs less mowing. *'Palmetto' - released in the mid-1990s. A smaller, lighter green grass. *'Raleigh' - released in 1980. Tolerant of cold, but susceptible to insects and disease. *'Sapphire' - released in 2004. Selected from Australia for its dark blue-green leaves and purple stolons and rapid lateral growth. *'Seville' - released in 1980. Similar to 'Floratam', but with a finer texture. *'Sir Walter' - released in 1996. Developed for Australian conditions with traits such as heat and drought tolerance. *'Texas Common' - Most similar to the natural species, it has fallen out of favor due to its susceptibility to the incurable SAD virus. *'Variegatum' - in 1993 it's given the prestigious

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

by the Royal Horticulture Society . It is a creeping evergreen grass with stripped white leaves

References

Stenotaphrum secundatum 'Variegatum' (v) , variegated buffalo grass Conservatory Greenhouse/RHS Gardening
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External links

USDA Plants ProfileSt. Augustine Grass
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.
Information about St. Augustine grass Cultivars.
Clemson University Cooperative Extension. {{Authority control Panicoideae Flora of the Southeastern United States Lawn grasses Grasses of Alabama Flora without expected TNC conservation status