Practical
Plants

Eragrostis curvula

Weeping Love Grass

a perennial evergreen member of the Eragrostis genus in the family Gramineae.

No photo available

Taxonomy and growth

Family
Gramineae
Life cycle
perennial
Foliage
evergreen
Height
1.2 m
Fertility
Self fertile, Apomictic, Wind
Flower type
hermaphrodite
Pollinators
Apomictic, Wind

Uses

Edible uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Seed - cooked[3]. Used as a grain[3].

Plant part
Seed

Material uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

A deep-rooted plant, it is considered excellent for protecting terraces and for grassing water channels and is valuable for erosion control[3]. In Lesotho, the plant is used to make baskets, brooms, hats, ropes, and candles[3].

Product or use
Basketry
Product or use
Biomass

Ecology and functions

Earth stabiliser

Environment

Range
S. Africa - north to Zimbabwe and the Transvaal.
Habitat
Not known
Light
full sun
Shade tolerance
no shade
Water
moderate
Hardiness
Zone 7+
Soil textures
sandy, loamy, clay
Soil pH
acid, neutral, alkaline
Drainage
well drained
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
No
Drought
intolerant

Propagation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Seed - sow early spring in a greenhouse and only just cover the seed. Germination should take place within 2 weeks. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out after the last expected frosts. The seed can also be sown in situ in mid to late spring, though in a cool summer it may fail to ripen many seeds[1]. Division in spring.

Cultivation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Easily grown in most well-drained soils so long as the plant is in a hot, dry, sunny position[2]. Weeping love grass is reported to tolerate an annual precipitation of 31 to 163cm, an annual temperature range of 5.9 to 26.2°C and a pH in the range of 5.0 to 8.2[3]. It is adapted to semi-arid and desert areas and sandy soils, growing well on low fertility soils[3]. A very drought-resistant plant, but it lacks hardiness for more northern areas[3]. It grows well on a wide range of well-drained soils, especially sandy loams; moderately frost-resistant in southern areas[3]. Plants are hardy to about -5°c and succeed outdoors in the milder areas of Britain[2]. The roots contain pyrocatechol, suggesting an explanation for the plants resistance to nematodes[3]. The species and its varieties are apomictic (producing seed without fertilization) although sexual plants have occasionally been found[3].

References

  1. Grounds. R. Ornamental Grasses. Christopher Helm 1989-00-00 ISBN 0-7470-1219-9

    ↩

  2. Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5

    ↩1↩2

  3. Duke. J. Handbook of Energy Crops - 1983-00-00

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4↩5↩6↩7↩8↩9↩10

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