Developing Sources of Native Grass Seed for Revegetation in Florida

Abstract

The native seed industry in much of the deep south, and in Florida, in particular, has lagged behind other areas of the country, partly because of a historical lack of demand but also because of a lack of ap- propriate technology to raise and harvest native species. Gov- ernment regulations for highway beauti cation in the 1980s fostered demand and promoted the development of a native wild ower seed industry with the help of researchers at the University of Florida, but the seed production of native grasses lagged, even as demand increased. During the past 30 years, an extensive amount of work has been conducted by the US De- partment of Agriculture (USDA) Brooksville Plant Materials Center and cooperating agencies, toward the goal of developing a commercially viable, native grass-seed industry for Florida, the site of the 67th Society for Range Management Annual Meet- ing, From Dusty Trails to Waning Wetlands.i In this article, we provide some background for this effort and its current status.

DOI: 10.2458/azu_rangelands_v35i5_williams