General Landscape Uses:
Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also useful as a base plant for wildflower gardens.
Ecological Restoration Notes: An occasional understory grass in a wide variety of pinelands and drier prairies in South Florida.
Availability:
Commonly available at native plant nurseries in central Florida. Available at native plant nurseries in northeast and South Florida.
Description: Medium herbaceous clumping grass, with narrow in-rolled leaves.
Dimensions: Typically 1-2 feet in height; to 3 feet when in flower. As broad as tall except when flowering.
Growth Rate: Moderate.
Range:
Southeastern United States south to Miami-Dade and Collier counties. More common to the north of our area.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of suggested ZIP codes from South Florida north to southern Brevard, Osceola, Polk, and Pasco counties.
Map of ZIP codes with habitat recommendations from the Monroe County Keys north to Martin and Charlotte counties.
Habitats: Pinelands and scrub.
Soils: Moist to dry, well-drained sandy soils, without humus.
Nutritional Requirements: Low; it grows in nutrient poor soils.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.
Drought Tolerance: High; does not require any supplemental water once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun.
Flower Color: Brownish inflorescence.
Flower Characteristics: Semi-showy inflorescence.
Flowering Season: Spring-fall.
Fruit: Inconspicuous caryopsis.
Wildlife and Ecology: Provides food for birds and attracts pollinators. An obligate of fire-maintained ecosystems, southern wiregrass requires fire for successful flowering and seed set.
Horticultural Notes: Can be grown from seed.
References: Nelson 2003
Comments: See also the Florida Wildflower Foundation's
Flower Friday page.
