Witchgrass
Panicum capillare
Witchgrass is an annual native grass whose huge, lacy seed panicles break off and tumble in the wind. Quick cover for disturbed ground; abundant seed for birds. The tiny seed has been cooked whole or ground into flour, often mixed with corn.
- Family
- Poaceae
- Type
- grass
- Lifespan
- annual
- Height
- 1–2.5 ft
- Spacing
- 1–1.5 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- neutral, acidic
- Bloom
- June, July, August, September, October, November
- Bloom colors
- green, brown
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, larval host, mammals
- Landscape uses
- border, naturalizing
- Native states
- AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY
Related native plants
More Panicum species
- Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)
- Vine Mesquite (Panicum obtusum)
- Bitter Panicgrass (Panicum amarum)
- Redtop Panicgrass (Panicum rigidulum)