Powell River Project
Reclamation Guidelines for Surface-Mined Land in Southwest Virginia

Revegetation Species and Practices

Authors: Jeff Skousen, Associate Professor and Extension Reclamation Specialist, Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, West Virginia University; and Carl E. Zipper, Extension Specialist, Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences, and Associate Director, Powell River Project, Virginia Tech

Publication Number 460-122, January 1997

Fast-growing annual grass species used as "nurse crops" in eastern U.S. mine revegetation

Common Name (Scientific Name)	Principal Cultivars	Life Cycle1	Growth Season2	Origin3	Seeding Rate Lbs./ac4	Ease of Estab- lishment	Persist- ence
Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica)	German	A	W	I	20-30	Good	Poor
Japanese Millet (Echinochloa crusgalli)		A	W	I	20-30	Good	Poor
Pearl Millet (Pennisetum americanum)	Gahi-1, Starr	A	W	I	15-20	Good	Poor
Oats (Avena sativa)	Noble, Otee, Ogle, others	A	C	I	30-50	Good	Poor
Winter Rye (Secale cereale)	Balbo, Abruzzi, Arostook	A	C	I	30-50	Good	Poor
Annual Ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum)		A	C	I	5-10	Good	Poor
Sudangrass (Sorghum sudanense)	Piper, Common	A	W	I	20-30	Good	Poor
Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum)	Feland, Severn, Tyler, Wheeler, others	A	C	I	30-60	Good	Poor

¹ P - perennial, A - annual, B - biennial
² C - Cool Season, W - Warm Season
³ N - Native, I - Introduced
⁴ Seeding rate when species is used alone; should be reduced when species is used in mixtures.

Go to Section 2 of Table 2.

Return to the Grasses section of Revegetation Species and Practices.

Return to the Use of Grasses as "Nurse Crops" section of Revegetation Species and Practices.

Return to the Species and Application Rates section of Revegetation Species and Practices.