FNPS Plant Database

Tripsacum dactyloides

eastern gamagrass, Fakahatchee grass
  • Photo by: Mark Hutchinson, Hernando Chapter, FNPS
  • Photo by: Mark Hutchinson, Hernando Chapter, FNPS
  • Photo by: Mark Hutchinson, Hernando Chapter, FNPS
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter FNPS
  • Photo by: Ginny Stibolt, Ixia Chapter FNPS

Nomenclature

Common Name:

eastern gamagrass, Fakahatchee grass

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Tripsacum dactyloides

Family:

Poaceae (Gramineae)

Plant Specifics

Form:

grass

Size:

4 to 6 ft tall by 2 to 4 ft wide

Life Span:

Long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

yellow,orange,red

Fruit Color:

yellow,brown

Phenology:

Evergreen. Clump-forming. Blooms spring-fall.

Noted For:

Showy Flowers, Showy Fruits

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Hedge, foundation planting, individual large grass clump, background screen for a flower garden. Rain garden or bioswale.

Considerations:

Can die back and become messy during cold winters, but new growth covers it in the spring.

Availability:

Quality Nurseries, Native Nurseries, FNPS Plant Sales, Seed

Propagation:

Readily self-seeds, seeds are easily collected by bagging the seed heads once the delicate flowers have been pollinated and drop off.

Light:

Full Sun, Part Sun

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded---------------------------------Extremely Dry

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Usually moist, occasional inundation -to- Not wet but not extremely dry

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Some tolerance to salty wind but not direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand, Loam

Soil pH:

5.1 to 7.5

Suitable to Grow In:

8A,8B,9A,9B,10A,10B

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.



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Ecology

Wildlife:

Caterpillars, Birds, Mammals

Larval host for three-spotted skipper ( Cymaenes tripunctus ), clouded skipper ( Lerema accius ) and Byssusskipper ( Problema byssus ) (Minno and Minno, 1999).

 Even when trimmed occasionally, Gama Grass will provide cover for small mammals, birds, and reptiles. Deer eat the seeds.

Native Habitats:

Wet bogs, roadsides, ditches, wet hammocks, river banks, low thickets, pine woods, open swamps, open habitats, flatwoods, sandhill, scrub. Also cultivated.

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

General Comments:

In a managed garden, gamagrass can be trimmed back at the end of winter.

Citations:

Huegel, Craig, N.  2012.  Native wildflowers and other ground covers for Florida landscapes. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL.



Ginny Stibolt, personal observation. Tripsacum dactyloides IS salt tolerant. I had it growing in Maryland right at the shoreline in the Brackish Chesapeake Bay and this sunrise photo is on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville where the river is also brackish as the tides roll in from the Atlantic. Mesohaline (14.5 parts per 1000) according to the map in this article: http://sjrr.domains.unf.edu/2-8-salinity/ I took this photo at JAX NAS inside the 295 beltway, well into the bright green area. Yes, it’s not growing right in the flats, but only about a foot higher and this river floods often enough that it wouldn’t grow there if it were not salt tolerant.



Minno, Marc and Maria Minno.  1999.  Florida butterfly gardening.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville.



Nelson, Gil.  2003.  Florida's Best Landscape Plants. Association of Florida Native Nurseries.



Osorio, Rufino. 2001. A gardener's guide to Florida's native Plants.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL.



Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2021. Atlas of Florida Plants ( https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ).  Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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