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Sporobolus heterolepis

Growing Information

Plant Type: Grass
Sunlight: Sun, part shade
Soils: Dry, sandy, average
Bloom Time: Pink and brown tints in June, July, August
Size: 1-3 feet in height; 1-3 foot spread

Plant as a groundcover, border, or accent plant in hot and dry sites. It has ornamental fine- textured bunches with fragrant flowers which become delicate seed heads that appear above the tufts of grass in mid-summer. Slow to establish and mature. A native listed as rare in MA. Not indigenous to Cape Cod.

Garden Companions

Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Purple Lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis), Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), Narrowleaf Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium), Slender Goldentop (Euthamia caroliniana)

Nature Benefits

• Larval food plant for Leonard’s Skipper, grasshoppers, and leafhoppers.
• Provides nesting materials/structure for native bees and small mammals.
• Seeds eaten by songbirds.

Native Habitat

Occurs in dry prairies, fields, and roadsides.

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Photos