Common Name: Buffalo Grass

General Information

Buffalo grass is an evergreen, perennial, mat-forming grass with prostrate culms 10 - 30cm long. Exceedingly variable in size, the culms can rise above the ground for 6 - 40cm or more[].
The plant forms a dense mat of growth and is very widely grown as a lawn grass in the tropics.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

S. America - Colombia; C. America - Honduras; Caribbean; southern N. America; tropical W. Africa.

Habitat

Found in a variety of habitats, most commonly on siliceous and calcareous sands near the sea[].

Properties

Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Perennial
Height	0.20 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated

Cultivation Details

A plant of the lowland tropics to the warm temperate zone. It is found at elevations up to 800 metres in the tropics. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 18 - 30°c, but can tolerate 10 - 34°c[]. When dormant, the plant can survive temperatures down to about -4°c, but young growth can be severely damaged at -1°c[]. Diploid types are more tolerant of cold and frost than many tropical grasses. Triploid forms have poor cool season growth[]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 800 - 2,000mm, but tolerates 300 - 3,300mm[].
Succeeds in full sun and also tolerates quite considerable shade[]. Found on a wide range of well or poorly drained soils, from sandy loams to light clays[]. Found in infertile to moderately fertile soils. It has good tolerance of soil salinity (to 15 dS/cm) and of wind-borne salt from the sea[]. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 7.5, tolerating - 8.5[].While moderately drought tolerant, it prefers good moisture, and can also withstand temporary flooding and waterlogging[].
There are some reports of the plant invading native habitats[], but it has shown a low potential to become a problem[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

None known

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant has a role as pasture or a soil conservation groundcover under trees, or near the sea where salt spray damages other grasses[]. The plant is very tolerant of regular mowing[]. It grows very well under coconuts, is planted with hedgerows of Leucaena leucocephala on coastal coralline plains and can grow with twining and stoloniferous legumes[]. Once established, it forms a dense sward that crowds out weeds[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -rarely produced[].
The plant is normally propagated vegetatively because seed is not commercially available. To establish a good ground cover, use well-rooted sprigs or 7-10 cm plugs, planted 30cm apart in rows 60 - 70 cm apart[]. The plant can also be established by broadcasting stolons or sprigs at 3.5 - 7 cubic metres per hectare and discing them into the soil and then rolling the ground[]. The plants may take 5 - 6 months to form a complete cover, but establish faster under light to moderate shade[].

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