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- Sod and Grass Products
- Bermuda
- Bermuda grass originally came from the savannas of Africa and is
the common name for all the East African species of Cynodon. It grows
in open areas where there are frequent disturbances such as grazing,
flooding, and fire.
Although most of these species
have remained in Africa, today Cynodon dactylon is found in warm
climates all over the world between 45° south and 45° north
latitude. It can be found growing in pastures and the understories of
open woodlands and orchards. It is called bermuda grass in the United
States because it was introduced from the Bermuda Island.
- St. Augustine
-
The earliest recorded use of St. Augustine as turf was in 1880,
when it was planted along an avenue at A. M. Reed's plantation near
Orange Park, Florida. There were more frequent collections of
St. Augustine in the 1880's and 1890's from Louisiana and Florida,
including non-port areas It is likely that during that era the species
served as forage. It grows in remote areas in Everglades
National Park, e.g., Highland Beach, 4 days by canoe from the nearest
phone or fresh water. The area was inhabited briefly in the 1890's by
people with cattle.
- Zoysia
- Zoysiagrasses are warm season grasses native to China, Japan and
other parts of Southeast Asia. The species was named to commemorate an
18th century Austrian botanist, Karl von Zois. In 1911, Zoysia
matrella was introduced into the United States from Manila by a USDA
botanist, C. V. Piper. Because of its origin the grass was commonly
called Manila grass.
Piper described the grass as abundant on or near the seashore in
the Philippine Islands. When closely clipped, it made a beautiful lawn
according to Piper's notes. He suggested that the grass had unusual
promise as a lawn grass along the Gulf Coast and Atlantic coast of
Florida.
- Buffalo
-
Buffalograss, Buchloe dactyloides, is a perennial grass
native to the Great Plains from Montana to Mexico. In Texas, it is
commonly found from South Texas to the Texas Panhandle; but is rarely
found on the sandy soils in the eastern part of the state or in the
high rainfall areas of southeast Texas. It is one of the grasses that
supported the great herds of buffalo that roamed the Great Plains.
Buffalograss also provided the sod from which early settlers built
their houses.
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