Sporobolus cryptandrus
Perennial North American native bunchgrass forming a tuft up to about 1 m tall with rough-haired leaves and a dense inflorescence bearing thousands of seeds, widely found in prairies and disturbed habitats and providing food for small birds and mammals such as scaled quail and black-tailed prairie dogs.
Common Names
Sand Dropseed
Summary
Sand dropseed is a warm-season, perennial, tufted grass native to North America. It forms erect to loose tufts about 1–3 ft tall and is not rhizomatous; distinctive features include conspicuous white-hair tufts at the tops of leaf sheaths, a flag blade nearly perpendicular to the culm, and a contracted panicle that opens to a pyramid shape with maturity, with airy seed heads persisting into winter.
Preferring sun to partial shade on well-drained sandy to loamy soils with dry to mesic moisture, it is drought-tolerant and valued for erosion control and rehabilitation, stabilizing sand and disturbed sites, and providing wildlife forage; seeds feed birds and small mammals, and it acts as a pioneer in disturbed landscapes. Propagation is primarily by seed (stratification or scarification can improve germination), and clump division is possible; sow roughly 0.4–1.0 lb pure live seed per acre at about 1/8 inch depth, with establishment dependent on spring/summer moisture; grazing can be deferred about 2 years to allow establishment; hardy to USDA zones 4–8.
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
1-3.5 feet
Spread
1-2 feet
Hardiness Zones
Zones 4-8
Sunlight Requirements
Ideally full sun. Tolerates partial sun.
Soil Type
Sandy soil, well-drained.
Soil Drainage
Well-drained sandy soils
Soil pH
6.6-8.0, mildly acidic to mildly alkaline soils (near neutral)
Bloom Color
Yellow
Bloom Time
Spring, Summer, Fall
Foliage Color
Green
Fall Foliage Color
Green
Leaf Lifecycle
Deciduous
Growth Rate
Moderate
Seasons of Interest
Summer and Fall
Propagation Methods
Seeds, Division, Tillering from residual plant parts (vegetative propagation)
Attracts Wildlife
Birds: Yes — seed heads provide food for birds, Butterflies: Yes — used as larval host
Taxonomy
- Taxonomic Rank
- Species
- Author
- (Torr.) A.Gray
- Publication
- Manual : 576 (1848)
Superior Taxa
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Subkingdom
- Pteridobiotina
- Phylum
- Angiosperms
- Order
- Poales
- Family
- Poaceae
- Genus
- Sporobolus
Synonyms
Agrostis cryptandra Sporobolus cryptandrus var. fuscicolor Sporobolus cryptandrus var. involutus Sporobolus cryptandrus var. occidentalis Sporobolus cryptandrus var. vaginatus Sporobolus subinclusus Sporobolus subinclusus var. expansus Vilfa cryptandra Vilfa tenacissima var. fuscicolor Vilfa triniana Sporobolus cryptandrus var. cryptandrus Sporobolus cryptandrus var. fuscicolor Sporobolus cryptandrus var. typicus Sporobolus cryptandrus subsp. fuscicolor