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Grass · Poaceae Draft — unreviewed

Prairie dropseed

Sporobolus heterolepis (A.Gray) A.Gray

Also called prairie dropseed.

Refined fountain of fine green blades that turns gold-orange in fall, with airy, oddly fragrant seed heads in late summer.

Size over time

Typical landscape size 0.6–0.9 m (2–3 ft) tall and 0.6–0.9 m (2–3 ft) wide; slow growth, about 4 years to maturity. Intermediate sizes use the planner’s growth curve (k = 0.12) from the #1 install size.

00.511.52mPlanting0.3 × 0.3 mYear 30.5 × 0.4 mYear 100.6 × 0.6 mMature0.8 × 0.8 m

Design notes

  • Slow to establish; plant plugs closely for a quicker mass.
  • Long-lived and rarely needs division.

Regions

Native range: Central North America, with scattered eastern populations.

Native to these OpenLandscape3D pilot regions:

Northeast

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

Big sacaton
Sporobolus wrightii · Grass · 1.5–2.1 m (5–7 ft)
Northern sea oats
Chasmanthium latifolium · Grass · 0.6–1.2 m (2–4 ft)
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)
Blue grama
Bouteloua gracilis · Grass · 0.3–0.6 m (1–2 ft)

Plan with Prairie dropseed

Place it in a design, check it against your zone, light and moisture, and see it at year three and year ten.

Start designing Try a sample garden