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Sugarcane
Plume
Sugarcane
plume, or beard grass (Saccharum giganteum), is a large,
perennial grass found in ditches, savannahs, and woodland
borders throughout the coastal plain and piedmont of South
Carolina. Where growing, it is visually dominant because
of its substantial height (10–12 feet) and
the large silvery to purplish panicles that contain its
seeds, which mature during the fall. It also is a frequent
colonizer of abandoned rice fields along the coast. The
plume seen here was photographed at Ellenton Bay, one of
the estimated 371 Carolina bays at SRS. Carolina bays are
natural, shallow, elliptical depressions in the ground
that collect rainwater runoff but have no natural outlet.
They generally contain water for part or most of the year,
depending on the season and on precipitation patterns.
Many SRS Carolina bays were drained and farmed prior to
the transfer of the land to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
in the early 1950s. The 2007 SRS Environmental Report's
interactive CD and associated web page were created by
Marvin Stewart of the Washington Savannah River Company's
Information Technology Department. The cover photograph
was shot by Al Mamatey of the company’s Environmental
Services Section, and the cover was designed by Eleanor
Justice of the company’s Documentation and Information
Services Section – Information Management and Production
Support Group.
Washington
Savannah River Company • Savannah River
Site • Aiken, South Carolina
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