Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Account for Hairy Jointgrass - Arthraxon hispidus   (Thunb.) Makino
Members of Poaceae:
Only member of Arthraxon in NC.
Google Images
Section 5 » Order Cyperales » Family Poaceae
Author(Thunb.) Makino
DistributionEssentially throughout the state. Gaps in the Mountains and Coastal Plain will likely be filled in the future. Apparently rare in the Sandhills proper soils perhaps too poor.

Native to southeastern Asia. In N.A., from MA to OH and KS, south to northwestern FL and eastern TX.
AbundanceFrequent throughout, and probably common in some counties. As of 2020, this grass is not as aggressive as some aliens and so far does not severely impact natural habitats.
HabitatMoist to seasonally wet or even seasonally inundated creek margins, bottomlands, meadows, powerlines through these same habitats, roadside ditches, woods roads, maritime shrub thickets, maritime swamp forests.
PhenologyFlowering and fruiting September-November.
IdentificationHairy Jointgrass is a multi-stem, multi-branch, spreading plant whose stems root at nodes. The stems may ultimately grow 3 feet long, or even more. The leaves are ovate or narrowly ovate, taper-pointed, and usually wavy margined. The upper portion of the stem (the final foot or less) turns rather erect and is terminated by a hand-like or fan-shaped inflorescence composed of 12-20 slender divisions. It is superficially similar to the highly invasive Japanese Stilt-grass (Microstegium vimineum), but differs in having many more divisions in the inflorescence and having a hair-like awn projecting from each floret (vs. none).
Taxonomic CommentsIncludes var. cryptatherus

Other Common Name(s)
State RankSE
Global RankGNR
State Status
US Status
USACE-agcpFAC link
USACE-empFAC link
County Map - click on a county to view source of record.
Photo Gallery
photographercommentsphoto_linkcountyobsType
Alicia JacksonFort Bragg, Hoke County, woods roads around Green Pond. Sept. 2020. HokeOther_non_natural
Alicia JacksonFort Bragg, Hoke County, woods roads around Green Pond. Sept. 2020. HokeOther_non_natural
Select a source
AllHerbaria
Individual
Website
Select an occurrence type
AllCollection_non_naturalPhoto_non_naturalOther_non_natural