Zoysia Grass Identification: What to Look For

Zoysia grass is a warm-season turfgrass from Asia, valued for its ability to form a dense and durable lawn. Its resilience in various climates has made it a popular choice for creating a thick, carpet-like surface. Understanding how to identify this grass is important for homeowners aiming to cultivate or manage it.

Key Visual and Tactile Characteristics

At a glance, Zoysia grass is recognizable by its dense, uniform growth that crowds out many weeds. During its active growing season, it displays a deep green to emerald color, which turns a tan or straw color when it goes dormant in winter. The grass spreads through both above-ground stems called stolons and below-ground stems known as rhizomes. This dual spreading mechanism forms a thick, mat-like turf that is resilient to foot traffic.

The leaf blades are a primary identifier. They are characteristically stiff, narrow to medium in width, and taper to a sharp, pointed tip. This structure gives the grass a firm or even prickly texture, a quality resulting from high silica levels within the blades that contributes to the grass’s durability and wear tolerance.

Another visual cue is how new plants emerge from the spreading stems. New shoots grow from the stolons and rhizomes at a near 90-degree angle, a pattern that contributes to the turf’s density. Its slow growth rate means it requires less frequent mowing and is less likely to invade adjacent garden beds.

Close-Up Anatomical Identifiers

For a more definitive identification, examining the plant’s smaller structures is necessary. A reliable botanical marker is the vernation, which describes how a new leaf emerges from the sheath. In Zoysia grass, the vernation is rolled, meaning a new leaf blade is rolled up like a small cigar within the stem before it unfurls. This can be observed by cutting a cross-section of a young shoot with a hand lens.

Another specific identifier is the ligule, a small appendage found at the junction where the leaf blade meets the leaf sheath. Zoysia’s ligule is a “fringe of hairs,” also known as being ciliate. This feature helps differentiate Zoysia from other grasses that might have a membranous or absent ligule. The ligule itself is very short, appearing as a fine, hairy line.

The collar area, where the blade and sheath join, is continuous and has sparse hairs along its edges. The leaf sheath is split with overlapping margins and may have a small tuft of hairs at the top near the collar. Unlike some other grass types, Zoysia does not have auricles, which are small, claw-like appendages at the base of the leaf blade.

Distinguishing Zoysia from Other Grasses

Zoysia is often confused with Bermuda grass, but key differences can clarify its identity. When compared to Bermuda grass, Zoysia blades are stiffer and feel more prickly. While both grasses spread by stolons and rhizomes, Bermuda grass blades are finer and softer to the touch. A significant differentiator is the seed head; Bermuda grass produces a distinctive forked seed head with three to five spikelets, whereas Zoysia produces a single, short spike.

St. Augustine grass has very broad, coarse blades with a rounded or boat-shaped tip, contrasting with Zoysia’s narrow, pointed blades. The stolons of St. Augustine are also much thicker and more prominent than Zoysia’s, making them easy to distinguish at ground level.

Tall Fescue is a cool-season, bunch-type grass, growing in clumps rather than spreading to form a dense mat like Zoysia. Its blades are wider than Zoysia’s and have prominent, rough veins on the upper surface. As a cool-season grass, Tall Fescue remains green during colder months when Zoysia is dormant and brown.

Identifying Common Zoysia Varieties

Within the Zoysia genus, several species are commonly used for turf, each with slightly different traits. Zoysia japonica, often called Japanese lawngrass, is the most common and is known for its relatively coarse texture. It is noted for having better cold tolerance than other Zoysia varieties, making it suitable for a wider range of climates. This is also the only species for which seed is commercially available.

Zoysia matrella, or Manilagrass, has a finer leaf texture and creates a denser, more carpet-like lawn. It grows more slowly than japonica and is less tolerant of cold temperatures, making it better suited for warmer regions. Its establishment rate is slow, but it results in a high-quality turf that can be mowed lower than coarser varieties.

Zoysia tenuifolia, sometimes referred to as Korean velvet grass, has an extremely fine and wiry texture. It is the least cold-tolerant of the common Zoysias and tends to form small, puffy clumps. Because of this unique growth habit, it is less frequently used for entire lawns and more often serves as an ornamental ground cover.