Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Hierochloe odorata
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| Sweetgrass seedheads. Image by Robert H. Mohlenbrock, hosted by the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA NRCS. 1992. Western wetland flora: Field office guide to plant species. West Region, Sacramento. |
Introductory
SPECIES: Hierochloe odorata
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION:
Walsh, Roberta A. 1994. Hierochloe odorata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/graminoid/hieodo/all.html [].
Revisions:
On 4 October 2018, the common name of this species was changed in FEIS
from: sweet grass
to: sweetgrass. Images were also added.
ABBREVIATION:
HIEODO
SYNONYMS:
NO-ENTRY
NRCS PLANT CODE:
HIOD
COMMON NAMES:
sweet grass
sweet grass
TAXONOMY:
The scientific name of sweetgrass is Hierochloe odorata (L.) Beauv.
(Poaceae) [12,14,15]. There are no infrataxa.
LIFE FORM:
Graminoid
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS:
No special status
OTHER STATUS:
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Hierochloe odorata
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:
Sweetgrass is circumboreal [1,18] and is common above 40 degrees north
latitude in Asia, Europe, and North America [20]. In North America,
sweetgrass occurs from Newfoundland to Alaska [7,15,27]. Its range
extends south to New Jersey and west to Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona,
and northern California [10,12,14,19].
 |
| Distribution of sweetgrass in North America. Map courtesy of USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database.
National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC. [2018, October 4] [30]. |
ECOSYSTEMS:
FRES10 White - red - jack pine
FRES11 Spruce - fir
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
FRES19 Aspen - birch
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES24 Hemlock - Sitka spruce
FRES25 Larch
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES37 Mountain meadows
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES39 Prairie
FRES41 Wet grasslands
STATES:
AK AZ CA CO CT ID IL IN IA ME
MA MI MN MT NV NH NJ NM NY ND
OH OR PA RI SD UT VT WA WI WY
AB BC MB NF NT NS ON PE PQ SK
YT
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS:
1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
6 Upper Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
15 Black Hills Uplift
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:
K001 Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
K002 Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
K003 Silver fir - Douglas-fir forest
K004 Fir - hemlock forest
K005 Mixed conifer forest
K010 Ponderosa shrub forest
K011 Western ponderosa forest
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K014 Grand fir - Douglas-fir forest
K015 Western spruce - fir forest
K017 Black Hills pine forest
K020 Spruce - fir - Douglas-fir forest
K021 Southwestern spruce - fir forest
K025 Alder - ash forest
K026 Oregon oakwoods
K028 Mosaic of K002 and K026
K047 Fescue - oatgrass
K050 Fescue - wheatgrass
K051 Wheatgrass - bluegrass
K052 Alpine meadows and barren
K063 Foothills prairie
K067 Wheatgrass - bluestem - needlegrass
K073 Northern cordgrass prairie
K074 Bluestem prairie
K081 Oak savanna
K082 Mosaic of K074 and K100
K093 Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
K094 Conifer bog
K095 Great Lakes pine forest
K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
K098 Northern floodplain forest
K099 Maple - basswood forest
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K101 Elm - ash forest
K102 Beech - maple forest
K106 Northern hardwoods
K107 Northern hardwoods - fir forest
K108 Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
K110 Northeastern oak - pine forest
SAF COVER TYPES:
1 Jack pine
5 Balsam fir
12 Black spruce
13 Black spruce - tamarack
14 Northern pin oak
15 Red pine
16 Aspen
19 Gray birch - red maple
20 White pine - northern red oak - red maple
21 Eastern white pine
22 White pine - hemlock
23 Eastern hemlock
24 Hemlock - yellow birch
25 Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
26 Sugar maple - basswood
27 Sugar maple
30 Red spruce - yellow birch
32 Red spruce
33 Red spruce - balsam fir
34 Red spruce - Fraser fir
35 Paper birch - red spruce - balsam fir
38 Tamarack
39 Black ash - American elm - red maple
52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
53 White oak
55 Northern red oak
57 Yellow-poplar
58 Yellow-poplar - eastern hemlock
59 Yellow-poplar - white oak - northern red oak
60 Beech - sugar maple
61 River birch - sycamore
62 Silver maple - American elm
63 Cottonwood
201 White spruce
202 White spruce - paper birch
203 Balsam poplar
204 Black spruce
205 Mountain hemlock
206 Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
207 Red fir
208 Whitebark pine
210 Interior Douglas-fir
211 White fir
212 Western larch
213 Grand fir
217 Aspen
221 Red alder
222 Black cottonwood - willow
223 Sitka spruce
224 Western hemlock
225 Western hemlock - Sitka spruce
226 Coastal true fir - hemlock
227 Western redcedar - western hemlock
229 Pacific Douglas-fir
230 Douglas-fir - western hemlock
231 Port-Orford-cedar
233 Oregon white oak
235 Cottonwood - willow
251 White spruce - aspen
252 Paper birch
253 Black spruce - white spruce
254 Black spruce - paper birch
244 Pacific ponderosa pine - Douglas-fir
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:
Sweetgrass usually grows among other grasses or shrubs; it is seldom
found in pure stands [5].
Sweetgrass occurs in north-central Alberta in the wheatgrass (Agropyron
spp., sensu latu)-sedge (Carex spp.) community in low, moist areas.
Associated species include slender wheatgrass (Elymus trachycaulus),
slough sedge (Carex atherodes), false-melic (Schizachne purpurascens),
brome (Bromus spp.), reed grass (Calamagrostis spp.), meadow sedge
(Carex praticola), and American vetch (Vicia americana). This community
is within the wheatgrass-needlegrass (Stipa spp.) association [23].
Associates of sweetgrass in the meadow stage of succession on glacial
gravel outwash terraces in south-central Alaska include boreal wildrye
(Leymus innovatus), altai fescue (Festuca altaica), bluegrass (Poa
spp.), Sierra larkspur (Delphinium glaucum), monkshood (Aconitum
delphinifolium), and northern goldenrod (Solidago multiradiata). A
nearly continuous moss mat, primarily of mountain fern moss (Hylocomium
splendens), grows under this vegetation [32].
Associates of sweetgrass in a meadow on the banks of the Churchill
River on the Hudson Bay Lowlands in northeastern Manitoba include red
fescue (Festuca rubra), alkali grass (Puccinellia paupercula), aster
(Aster puniceus var. firmus), bittercress (Cardamine pratensis), mud
sedge (Carex limosa), parnassia (Parnassia multiseta), lomatogonium
(Lomatogonium rotatum), and plantain (Plantago maritima). Sweetgrass
is one of the most important grasses of this community [26].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Hierochloe odorata
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE:
Sweetgrass produces very little forage [20].
PALATABILITY:
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE:
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE:
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:
Sweetgrass may be useful for soil stabilization. It spreads rapidly,
and provides cover against erosion. It binds soil with dense root and
rhizome development [20].
OTHER USES AND VALUES:
Dried sweetgrass foliage is fragrant because of its coumarin content
[10] and is used as incense and in making perfume [5]. The long leaves
of sterile shoots are used by Native Americans in making baskets
[13,17,19,33]. Sweetgrass has religious significance to some Native
American peoples [5].
Sweetgrass tea was used for coughs and sore throats, to treat chapping
and windburn, and as an eyewash. It was strewn before church doors on
saints' days in northern Europe [5].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
Sweetgrass does not have dense enough growth for turf [20].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Hierochloe odorata
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Sweetgrass is a native, rhizomatous perennial grass [7,12,34].
Rhizomes are slender and creeping [7,15]. Culms are hollow, erect [11],
and 8 to 24 inches (20-60 cm) tall [9,12,15,16]; they arise from among
the dead foliage of the previous year [7,22]. Cauline leaves are few
and short; leaves of sterile shoots are 4 to 12 inches (10-30 cm) long
[11,12]. The inflorescence is an open pyramidal panicle 1.6 to 4.7
inches (4-12 cm) long, with slender branches [12,15,22]. Spikelets are
three-flowered [22,34]; lemmas are awnless [7,9]. The fruit is a
caryopsis [22]. Rhizomes and roots form a dense mat beneath the soil
surface [20].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM:
Hemicryptophyte
Geophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES:
Sweetgrass spreads vigorously [9] by creeping rhizomes which are often
fairly deep [15,22]. It also reproduces by seed [12,22]. However,
sweetgrass is largely infertile [34]; it produces relatively few
seedheads, and these contain few seeds [20].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS:
Sweetgrass occurs in wet meadows [7,11,15,33], low prairies [22], the
edges of sloughs and marshes [11], bogs [15], shaded streambanks [10],
lakeshores [34], and cool mountain canyons [10].
Sweetgrass grows on moist, heavy soil near the upper areas of the tidal
marshes around the coast of Nova Scotia [27]. It occurs on granular
calcareous soil from glacial river deposits on the Churchill River
estuary in northeastern Manitoba [26]. In northeastern Alberta,
sweetgrass occurs on well-drained loamy soil with heavy clay subsoil; pH
is 4.7 near the surface and increases with depth [25]. It occurs on
coarse river gravel terraces covered by a 2-inch (5-cm) layer of organic
material (pH 6.0) along the McKinley River in south-central Alaska [32].
Sweetgrass has been reported at the following elevations:
Feet Meters
Alaska 730-3,281 223-1,000 [18,32]
Arizona 7,000 2,134 [19]
California 6,000 1,830 [14]
Colorado 7,500-11,500 2,286-3,505 [12]
Utah 6,990-11,485 2,130-3,500 [34]
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS:
Sweetgrass is usually found in mid-successional communities. It can
withstand some soil disturbance.
Sweetgrass was a major component of the meadow zone just above high
water on the Churchill River in northeastern Manitoba. This was the
earliest closed-cover successional community on the flats. Sweetgrass
was not present in later successional zones [26].
Sweetgrass was a minor component of undisturbed and disturbed dry
grassland sites in northeastern Alberta. Disturbance by vehicle traffic
and bison had caused soil compaction and erosion [25].
Sweetgrass was a component of a wheatgrass-sedge community in
north-central Alberta which had succeeded a marsh community [23].
Sweetgrass was a minor component of the meadow stage of succession on
gravel outwash terraces in south-central Alaska. It was not present in
earlier or later stages [32].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT:
In spring, creeping rhizomes of sweetgrass produce inconspicuous
fruiting culms with leaves that are few and short [5]. Somewhat later,
long leaves develop from separate sterile basal off-shoots [27]. Culms
shrivel soon after flowering [7].
In southwestern Saskatchewan, sweetgrass first flowered, on the
average, on June 2 (recorded over 6 years), the earliest date being May
17, and the latest June 22. The mean number of days in flower was 28
[3].
Sweetgrass is among the earliest flowering of Alaskan grasses.
Seedheads are formed in autumn and remain small and hidden through
winter in the new growing shoots, which elongate the following spring.
Seedheads appear early in May, almost as soon as the grass begins spring
growth. Anthesis occurs near May 20, and seed is ripe from late July to
early August [20].
The following sweetgrass flowering dates have been reported:
Alaska late May [20]
Arizona June-July [19]
Michigan spring [33]
North Dakota May [4,28]
South Dakota late April-July [22]
Great Plains May-July [11]
Southwestern
United States April [7]
Nova Scotia early May [27]
Saskatchewan June [3]
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Hierochloe odorata
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS:
Sweetgrass has creeping rhizomes which are often fairly deep [15,22] and
which may sprout after aerial portions are burned. Culms arise from
among dead foliage of the preceding year [7]. This foliage may protect
basal buds from fire damage in the spring when moisture content of dead
foliage is high. But in fall, it is more likely that the buds would be
damaged by heat produced when the dried foliage burns.
FIRE REGIMES:
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY:
Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Hierochloe odorata
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT:
Sweetgrass culms and leaves are probably killed by fire during the
growing season.
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE:
As of 1994, there was no information on sweetgrass postfire responses.
Sweetgrass probably sprouts from the root crown and rhizomes after
top-kill by fire.
FIRE REGIMES:
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
Sweetgrass is a member of some meadow communities succeeded by forest
in the absence of disturbance. Fire exclusion from these communities
may favor other species over sweetgrass.
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Hierochloe odorata
REFERENCES:
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2. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
3. Budd, A. C.; Campbell, J. B. 1959. Flowering sequence of a local flora.
Journal of Range Management. 12: 127-132. [552]
4. Callow, J. Michael; Kantrud, Harold A.; Higgins, Kenneth F. 1992. First
flowering dates and flowering periods of prairie plants at Woodworth,
North Dakota. Prairie Naturalist. 24(2): 57-64. [20450]
5. English, Moira. 1982. Sweet grass--a sacred herb. Herbarist. 48: 5-9.
[23371]
6. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
7. Fernald, Merritt Lyndon. 1950. Gray's manual of botany. [Corrections
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8. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
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Chicago: The Swallow Press Inc. 666 p. [6851]
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California. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 1400 p.
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15. Hitchcock, A. S. 1951. Manual of the grasses of the United States. Misc.
Publ. No. 200. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
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Northwest. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. 730 p. [1168]
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Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 1008 p. [13403]
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Elizabeth. 1960. Arizona flora. 2d ed. Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press. 1085 p. [6563]
20. Klebesadel, L. J. 1974. Sweet holygrass, a potentially valuable ally.
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21. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
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22. Larson, Gary E. 1993. Aquatic and wetland vascular plants of the
Northern Great Plains. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-238. Fort Collins, CO: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and
Range Experiment Station. 681 p. [22534]
23. Moss, E. H. 1955. The vegetation of Alberta. Botanical Review. 21(9):
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communities in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta. Canadian
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on the Hudson Bay lowlands. Ecology. 38(3): 429-435. [10552]
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Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station Bimonthly Bulletin. 18(6):
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