Bermudagrass

Cynodon dactylon                                                                                        


A warm-season perennial that creeps by strong rhizomes and stolons and forms an excellent turfgrass. Most improved hybrid varieties are planted by stolons or sod. Often found as a wiry, spreading weed in northern states. Common south of a line from Maryland to Kansas and northern California.


Identifying Characteristics

  • Stolons: Present, long
  • Rhizomes: Present
  • Leaves: Folded in the bud
  • Ligule: A fringe of hairs
  • Collar: Narrow, covered with long hairs
  • Auricles: Absent
  • Sheaths: Strongly compressed, sparsely hairy
  • Blades: Short, 1/8th inch wide, rough along the edges, sharp pointed
  • Seedhead: 3 to 5 slender spikes, joining at the top of the main stem
  • Spikelets: Oval, in two rows, containing a single seed

Recommendations

  • Mowing Height
    • Hybrid: 0.5 to 1.25 inches
    • Common: 1 to 2 inches
  • Establishment: Seed (some cultivars), Sod, Sprig
  • Fertilization: 2 to 5 lbs/1000ft2/Year
  • Adaptation: Statewide


Bermudagrass Front


Bermudagrass Back

Tolerance Table