purpletop

Grass family (Poaceae)

overview

Tridens flavus is a tall, warm season bunchgrass. When planted in mass its purple spikelets will create a floating purplish haze for several weeks mid-summer.

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The purple seed heads are covered with an oily substance inspiring another common name, Grease Grass. 

wildlife value

This species is the larval host of a number of butterflies and moths, including Cercyonis pegala (Common Wood Nymph), Polites origenes (Crossline Skipper), Pompeius verna (Little Glassywing), and Poanes viator (Broad-winged Skipper). Seeds are eaten by birds.

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maintenance

Easy to grow & self-seeds. It is attractive to browsing mammals, however, its ability to self-seed makes it easy to establish permanent colonies.

sources

Availability	Vendor	Website
X	Earth Sangha (VA)	https://www.earthsangha.org/
	Hill House Farm & Nursery (VA)	http://hillhousenativeplants.com/plant_list
	Nature By Design (VA)	http://www.nature-by-design.com/plantlist2019.html
X	Chesapeake Natives, Inc. (Region)	http://chesapeakenatives.org/plant-list/

references

• Illinois Wildflowers
• Izel Plants
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
• Prairie Moon Nursery
• USDA