Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Chloridoideae
Tribe: Cynodonteae
Genus: Zoysia
Species: Z. matrella
Binomial name: Zoysia
matrella
Zoysia matrella (L.) Merr., commonly known as Manila Grass,
is a species of mat-forming, perennial grass native to temperate coastal
southeastern Asia and northern Australasia, from southern Japan (Ryukyu
Islands), Taiwan, and southern China (Guangdong, Hainan) south through
Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines to northern Australia
(northeast Queensland), and west to the Cocos Islands in the eastern Indian
Ocean.
Other common names include Korean grass, Manila templegrass,
siglap grass (after an area in Singapore), temple grass, Mascarene grass,
harishiba, hierba Manila (Spanish), Japanese carpet, jukut kakawatan hijau
(Sundanese), rebha sekem-sekeman (Madurese), burikit (on Seram), rumput siglap
(Malay), damong-alat, barit-baritan (Tagalog), malakuwerdas (Pangasinan),
ya-nuannoi (Thai).[3]
Botanical synonyms include Agrostis matrella (basionym),
Osterdamia matrella, Z. pungens, and Z. tenuifolia (now distinguished as Zoysia
matrella var. pacifica).[4]
Two varieties are distinguished by some authors:
·
Zoysia matrella var. matrella
·
Zoysia matrella var. pacifica Goudswaard
Description
It forms extensive, velvety, green mats, spreading
vigorously by stolons, or occasionally by rhizomes, once established. Z.
matrella grows in low elevation preferring sandy soils where other grasses
establish poorly. The stems are slender and prostrate, ranging from 5–25 cm in
length. The leaves are alternate, produced at 1.5–3 cm intervals along the
stem; they are slender, 2–10 cm long and 1–3 mm broad. The flowers are
greenish, produced on erect racemes 6–35 mm long with a single 2-3.5 mm flower
in each spikelet.
Cultivation and uses
Manila grass is grown as an ornamental grass, and is used
for turf on golf courses in Asia, Europe and the Americas, as a lawn grass in
the United States especially in the South, and is planted for grazing stock
among the trees on tropical coconut plantations. In addition to its ability to
grow on sandy soils, it tolerates high salinity, making it ideal for erosion
control and lawns in coastal areas.
The variety of common names attests to its widespread
occurrence in these regions along with its usefulness as a cultivated grass in
diverse areas. It is naturalised in many places, as in Hawaii, and can become
weedy, like many plant species with desirable horticultural characteristics.
