Does St. Augustinegrass produce seeds?

AnaZ – posted 12 May 2005 08:44

My lawn is in the panhandle of Florida. It is my goal to have just one type of grass, preferably the St. Augustine since it appears to be the one covering the most area.I couldn’t mow it for the last 3 weeks and now I have these sort of sticks everywhere that appear to come from the St. Augustine stolons. About 4~6 inches tall, thick to the touch, with scales like seed pockets.

I’d like to know because if they are seeds for anything else I’ll make sure to bag the clippings when I mow this weekend

tallahassee lassie – posted 12 May 2005 10:22

St Augustine will produce seedheads but the seeds don’t grow. Ever. That said, other weeds do produce seeds that grow, and it can be hard to tell the difference from a mower.

Katie

seed – posted 12 May 2005 12:18

Not so fast, tallylassie, St. Augustinegrass seeds have high germination, over 70% in my experience. The principal variety, Floratam, is virtually 100% sterile, doesn’t even produce any seed, while dwarf varieties such as Seville produce abundant seed which is 70% or more viable. I have observed and counted large numbers of emerged St. Augustinegrass seedlings following sod harvest of some varieties (but not Floratam), and the numbers of seedlings are proportional to the seed production per unit area. What makes commercial seed production unprofitable are several factors, such as the difficulty of processing the seeds (the spikelets are embedded in sockets in a corky rachis), their slow “take” in competitive situations, and the fact that any seed produced from a vegetative planting will be all inbred seed, with depressed vigor.

There are horticultural books that say St. Augustinegrass is propagated vegetatively because it produces no seed. Not true.

Phil

tallahassee lassie – posted 12 May 2005 12:35

I stand corrected.

br549 – posted 12 May 2005 17:30

Hmmmmmm,I guess I have learned something today.I grow several types of St.Augustine,but have never noticed that happen.I am going to observe my varieties closer to see.Any publications to support this?Thought it all was sterile.I have noticed the seed heads seem to be produced by the healthier grass.Thanks

link2 – posted 12 May 2005 22:04

where can you buy the seeds?

AnaZ – posted 13 May 2005 07:30

Thanks for the fast response. I think I’ll use the bag in the mower this time, just in case. Assuming the sticks I have ARE seeds pockets, I like the theory that seeds come out of healthy grass. In my case the sections with them are very dense. Unfortunately, between the front and back lawn I probably have 2 to 4 different types of turf.

cohiba – posted 13 May 2005 07:35

You southerners have weird grasses!

Larned a new thang………….

ted – posted 13 May 2005 15:41

i guess they don’t have st. augustine in new jersey….