Miscanthus Sacchariflorus – Biofuel Parent Or New Weed?.

The perennial grass Miscanthus × giganteus is a promising renewable bioenergy feedstock in the United States and Europe and is a sterile hybrid cross between M. sinensis and M. sacchariflorus.  Although research has begun to examine the impacts of M. sinensis and M. × giganteus on the landscape, M. sacchariflorus has been largely overlooked.  In addition to serving as parental material for M. × giganteus, M. sacchariflorus is an ornamental species and as a source of pulp for papermaking, but it also has a high potential to be invasive.  Like M. × giganteus, M. sacchariflorus is capable of producing high yields (10.7 t DM ha^-1 yr^-1), and can be challenging to establish due to poor cold tolerance.  However, M. sacchariflorus generally does not reproduce by seed, but by abundant and aggressively spreading rhizomes, which underscores its invasive risk.  In the US, M. sacchariflorus likely escaped cultivation in the 1940s or 1950s. Feral populations are currently recorded in at least eight states, primarily in the Midwest, although it is likely that not all populations have been reported.  A case study of Iowa demonstrates that increased mapping efforts will likely identify new populations.  As such, it is essential to generate a comprehensive dataset of all known M. sacchariflorus populations and monitor any continued spread of this species.