Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Commelinids: Poales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Erianthus giganteus
FAMILY
Poaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Erianthus from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Awn twisting is judged from dry material, either herbarium specimens, mature (and dry) material in the field. With material that is not fully dry, a good life hack is to leave all or part of an inflorescence on the dashboard of a car to dry, per Weakley's Flora (2023).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Saccharum giganteum
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 25 (2003)
Saccharum giganteum
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 029-85-005:
Erianthus giganteus FAMILY Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Grasses of the US (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950)
Erianthus giganteus
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Erianthus saccharoides
COMMON NAME:
Sugarcane Plumegrass, Giant Plumegrass
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase). 1950 pnd_ergi_002_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_ersa15_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_sagi_001_lvd
)
Keith Bradley kab_s_giganteum_73569
August Miami-Dade County FL
Everglades National Park
)
Jean Everett jbe091806_egiganteus_imma
September
Spikelets well separated at flowering, then expanding into a plumelike mass, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
Jean Everett jbe092004_egiganteus_habi
September
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_saccharum_giganteum
September
)
JK Marlow jkm161001_076
October Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
Culms to 4m tall, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm161001_807
October Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
)
JK Marlow jkm161001_826
October Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
)
JK Marlow jkm201004_7576
October Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Leaves long-white hairy near base & short-hairy or not elsewhere, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm201004_7581
October Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm201004_7583
October Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm201004_7598
October Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm201004_7625
October Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Callus beard exceeds spikelet. Awn nearly straight, terete, scaberulous, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
fruit of Plumegrass species
)
JK Marlow jkm201021_7870
October Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Panicle silvery to purplish, 15-40cm long, 8-15cm broad, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm201021_7872
October Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm201021_7874
October Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm201021_7875
October Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm201021_7877
October Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Nodes usually bearded, internodes glabrous or pubescent, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm161106_107
November Williamsburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm161106_107b
November Williamsburg County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Erianthus giganteus
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Saccharum giganteum
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 25
Saccharum giganteum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 029-85-005:
Erianthus giganteus
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Grasses of the US (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950)
Erianthus giganteus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Erianthus saccharoides
523
Grass, Sedge, or Rush
Perennial
Habitat: marshes, roadbanks, lake and pond margins, cypress ponds, wet pine flatwoods, ditches, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in Mountains)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Mostly alternate, 2-ranked
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Panicle silvery to purplish
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Grain reddish
Grain
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p238
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p248
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p176
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p213
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p466
- Manual of the Grasses of the United States (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950) p746
- Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p194
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p106
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p140
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p006
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p414
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p348
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p400
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p295
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".