Description

Key Information:

Soil: Mesic (Medium) – Xeric (Dry)
Sun: Full Sun – Part Sun
Height: 2 feet
Type: Warm season, perennial, rhizomatous.
*Salt tolerant*

More Details:

Suggested Uses: This is an excellent grass to use in dry, gravelly or sandy soils. This drought tolerant species is found in open prairie and along sandy roadsides. Very tolerant of poor soils. Its rhizomatous root system can help stabilize shorelines. Its purplish flower clusters (spikelets) look like a purple haze in the distance! Deer resistant.

Native Range: Native throughout most of the U.S. except the west coast.

Wildlife Value: Larval host plant for a few species of moths and butterflies. Seeds provide food for birds and small mammals.

Other Names: Petticoat Climber

More information: USDA plant profile

Photo credit: Mark Marathon, from Wikimedia Commons