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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