Grass · Poaceae Draft — unreviewed
Northern sea oats
Chasmanthium latifolium (Michx.) H.O.Yates
Also called northern sea oats, river oats.
Shade-tolerant native grass with flat, oat-like seed heads that dangle and turn bronze in fall.
Size over time
Typical landscape size 0.6–1.2 m (2–4 ft) tall and 0.5–0.8 m (1–2 ft) wide; medium growth, about 3 years to maturity. Intermediate sizes use the planner’s growth curve (k = 0.25) from the #1 install size.
Design notes
- Reseeds freely; deadhead before seed drops in tidy beds.
- One of few ornamental grasses for shade.
Regions
Native range: Eastern and central U.S..
Native to these OpenLandscape3D pilot regions:
Native status describes where the species occurs naturally. It is not a promise that it suits a particular garden; site conditions decide that.
Related plants
Pink muhly grass
Muhlenbergia capillaris · Grass · 0.6–0.9 m (2–3 ft)
Shenandoah switchgrass
Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah' · Grass · 0.9–1.2 m (3–4 ft)
Little bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium · Grass · 0.6–1.2 m (2–4 ft)
Prairie dropseed
Sporobolus heterolepis · Grass · 0.6–0.9 m (2–3 ft)
Red maple
Acer rubrum · Tree · 12–18 m (39–59 ft)
Sugar maple
Acer saccharum · Tree · 15–22 m (49–72 ft)
Plan with Northern sea oats
Place it in a design, check it against your zone, light and moisture, and see it at year three and year ten.