Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

PURPLE LOVEGRASS

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Eragrostis spectabilis (Pursh ) Steud.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 10-30 inches

Family: Poaceae - Grass Family

Flowering Period: August, September

Culms:

Stiffly erect to arching, rigid, glabrous.

Blades:

Flat, 4 to 16 inches long, to 1/3 inch wide, firm, stiffly ascending, often with long hairs on upper surface near base; margins usually rolling inward when dry.

Sheaths:

Margins overlapping, collar and upper margins with long hairs.

Ligules:

Short membranes backed by ring of hairs.

Inflorescences:

Open panicles, 6 to 24 inches long, 4 to 16 inches wide, loosely flowered, about 2/3 height of plant; branches 3 to 10 inches long, somewhat stiff and ascending, spreading at maturity, reddish purple, lower branches shorter than middle branches, branch axils with long hairs.

Spikelets:

Numerous, on stiff stalks, linear-oblong, about 1/4 inch long, 5-12-flowered, flattened, purplish; awns absent; glumes and lemmas sharply pointed.

Habitat:

Dry or moist pastures, roadsides, and waste areas, often on sandy sites.

Distribution:

Principally east 2/3 of Kansas.

Forage Value:

Purple lovegrass has fair forage value when young. Cattle will not graze mature plants.

Uses:

It provides nesting cover for some game birds.

Comments:

Tufted. After maturity, the inflorescences often break loose and roll like tumbleweeds.