Manila Grass

It is a good sand-binder and is very common in Taiwan.

This species forms natural hybrids with Zoysia sinica.

Zoysia matrella is a good sand-binding and lawn grass.

Plant dwarf, with creeping rhizome or stolon. Blade narrow, 4-5 cm long by 1-2 mm wide; ligule a ring of hairs, minute, about 0.1 mm long; sheath-mouth sparingly covered with long silky haris. Inflorescence a single spike-like raceme, about 2 mm long. Spikelets 1-flowered, about 2.5 mm long, laterally compressed, lanceolate, shortly pedicelled; upper glume as long as the spikelet, broadly ovate, smooth, coriaceous, margins thinner and inrolled, 1-nerved, lanceolate; palea 1/2 the length of the lemma, hyaline, lanceolate.

Perennial, stoloniferous, mat-forming, also with shallow underground rhizomes. Culms up to 20 cm tall. Leaf sheaths glabrous, bearded at mouth with 4–5 mm hairs; leaf blades flat or involute, tough, suberect to spreading, 3–8 cm, 1.5–2.5 mm wide, glabrous or adaxial surface thinly pilose, apex acute. Inflorescence linear, 2–4 × 0.2–0.3 cm, exserted above leaves; spikelets 10–30, loosely overlapping; rachis somewhat wavy; pedicels shorter than spikelet, 1–3 mm, widened at apex. Spikelets 2–3 × ca. 1 mm, yellowish brown or purplish brown; lower glume usually absent; upper glume lanceolate, 5-veined, midrib prominent, sometimes scabrous toward apex, lateral veins obscure, apex obtuse; lemma oblong-ovate, 2–2.5 mm, obscurely 3-veined, midvein sometimes shortly excurrent; palea lanceolate, 1/2 as long as lemma. Anthers 1–1.5 mm. Caryopsis ca. 1.5 mm. Fl. and fr. Jul–Oct. 2n = 20, 40.

Widely distributed in the tropics of Asia, and now introduced into America as a lawn grass.

Coastal sands. Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan [India, Indonesia, Japan (S Kyushu and Ryukyu Islands), Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam].

Agrostis matrella Linnaeus, Mant. Pl. 2: 185. 1771; Zoysia pungens Willdenow; Z. serrulata Mez; Z. tenuifolia Thiele.