Heteropogon melanocarpus (Elliott) Benth.

Sweet Tanglehead

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Sweet Tanglehead is an introduced annual member of the grass family. It is likely native to the Eastern Hemisphere but now occurs in tropical and sub-tropical areas throughout the world. In Alabama it occurs in the southeastern portion of the state. Sweet Tanglehead grows in dry sandy soil in full or partial sun. It can be found on roadsides, in sandhills, in pine woodlands, and around the edges of fields. It is an annual with a fibrous root system. Prominent prop roots occur on the lower 3-4 nodes. Stems are from 2-5 feet in height. The stems are often branched above the middle. The stems are green or reddish in color and glabrous. The leaf sheaths are glabrous with a row of glandular depressions along the keel. The leaf blades have dark depressions along the keel and papillose trichomes near the base. Crushed leaves have a citronella smell. Flowers are produced in terminal and axillary racemes. The lower portion of the raceme consists of sessile, awnless, staminate or sterile spikelets. The upper portion consists of pairs of spikelets where one spikelet of the pair is sessile, fertile, and awned, and the other spikelet is pedicellate and staminate or sterile. The fruit is an awned grain resembling that of our native Needlegrass (Piptochaetium avenaceum (Linnaeus) Parodi). The grain is dark brown or blackish in color with an awn of 2-3 inches in length. The fruit comes to a sharp tip at the base. The awns are coiled together in the raceme, and fruit individually uncoil and disperse. This species seems to be expanding its range in Alabama, with many new populations appearing.--A. Diamond

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Not Native

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