Drought Tolerance Responses of Purple Lovegrass and ‘Adagio’ Maiden Grass

Nonnative Miscanthus sinensis Anderss ‘Adagio’ and native Eragrostis spectabilis (Pursh) Steud. were evaluated for drought tolerance in a rain-excluded landscape setting in sandy soil in response to irrigation application volumes of 0 L, 0.25 L, 0.5 L, or 0.75 L. As irrigation rates increased, plant mass, canopy size, and shoot-to-root ratios increased for both species, being greatest at the 0.75-L rate. Shoot dry weight, root dry weight, total biomass, and shoot-to-root ratios were greater for E. spectabilis than M. sinensis . Cumulative water stress integral was also greater for E. spectabilis . Greater growth in conjunction with higher cumulative water stress indicates the native E. spectabilis is anisohydric and more drought-tolerant than the isohydric nonnative M. sinensis .