Eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides) is a long-lived, perennial C4 grass. It is cultivated as a hay and silage crop, for soil conservation and for erosion control. It is also planted as a soil conditioner in drained swamps, for use in mulching and as an ornamental plant. 

The chromosome number reported varies greatly from diploid (2n = 2x = 36), to triploid (2n = 3x = 54), tetraploid (2n = 4x = 72), pentaploid (2n = 5x = 90), and hexaploid (2n = 6x = 108). It has separate male and female flowers (monoecious), but each spike contains both male and female flowers. Only the diploid plants are sexual and cross-pollinated. The tetraploids and the rest of the polyploids are apomictic and produce seeds asexually. Crossing between the sexual diploids and the polyploids can occur. The grass is spread by seeds.

The grass is a wild genetic relative of cultivated maize Zea mays, and it has been suggested that Zea mays may be the result of a cross between T. dactyloides and Zea diploperennis, a perennial variety of teosinte. Like other Tripsacum species, T. dactyloides can hybridize with domesticated maize and teosinte species, although offspring of direct crosses are typically sterile.

It is possible to cook the seeds and grind them into flour.