Muelembergia disticophylla

( zacatón [sakatón], augmentative of zacate 'hay; fodder' < Nahu-atl zacatl)

   Bentley: 1863.

   A southwestern plant ( Sporobolus wrightii) sometimes used as forage. The OED indicates that the term refers to various species of the genera Sporobolus and Epicampes. Santamaria glosses it as the common name of various wild grasses, including Muelembergia disticophylla and S. wrightii, used for making an industrial fiber. It generally grows in long, rigid rootstalks with leaves. In southeastern Mexico it is the primary vegetation on the plains or savannahs, where it grows as a shrub or in isolated groups of trees.

    Also called pajón (Mexico), bear grass (USA), it is commonly used as forage for cattle.

    Alternate forms: sacate, sacatone, zacaton.

   Islas and the DRAE both note that fiber from the plant's roots is used for brooms and brushes. Cobos references zacatón as "bunch grass or porcupine grass."