[PCA] ARTICLE: Sweetgrass – a historically important native grass for coastal conservation

[Park, Margaret E]

USDA NRCS Brooksville Plant Materials Center


Sweetgrass is a clump-forming perennial grass that is native to the southern Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The leaves of this grass are used by the Gullah community, descendants of enslaved Africans in the South Carolina coastal area, as the base material for their coiled basketry.


Sweetgrass (a.k.a. gulfhairawn muhly, Muhlenbergia filipes) is a clump-forming perennial grass that is native to the southern Atlantic and Gulf coasts.  It has narrow, rolled leaves that can grow to almost 4-feet tall.  The purplish flowers are held in an open, diffuse panicle-type seedhead.  The common name "sweetgrass" is derived from the fresh, corn silk fragrance of the leaves or "threads".  Sweetgrass is more than just another native grass in the coastal conservation toolkit, it is quite literally woven into cultural tradition of a segment of African American history.



Full article: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/plantmaterials/home/?cid=NRCSEPRD1922851
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