Piptochaetium avenaceum

Piptochaetium avenaceum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class:	Liliopsida – Monocotyledons
Order:	Cyperales
Family:	Poaceae ⁄ Gramineae
Genus:	Piptochaetium
Species:	P. avenaceum
Binomial name
Piptochaetium avenaceum (L.) Parodi
Natural range of Piptochaetium avenaceum from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: blackseed speargrass

Ecology

Habitat

In the Coastal Plain in Florida and Georgia, Piptochaetium avenaceum is found in live oak groves, open sandy ridges, mesic coastal hammocks, woodland openings, floodplain edges, along creeks, lake slopes, upland mixed forests, mixed pinewoods, open mixed woodlands, annually burned savannas and pine-oak, open stand of shrubs and trees of Ilex vomitoria, and floodplains (FSU Herbarium). Non-native habitats include roadsides, recreation areas, nature trails, stands of old field pines cleared of underbrush, and along city roads. It has been observed to grow in dry loamy sand, sandy soils, limestone outcrops, calcareous slopes and moist loamy sands (FSU Herbarium).

Associated species include Melica mutica, Festuca, Erigeron, Verbena, Vitis rotundifolia, Rubus trivialis and Ilex vomitoria (FSU Herbarium).

Phenology

P. avenaceum flowers and fruits March through May (FSU Herbarium).

References and notes

Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: Collectors: States and Counties: Compiled by Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.