Vine Mesquite
Panicum obtusum
Vine mesquite is a stoloniferous Southwestern grass that creeps over swales and washes, knitting soil together for erosion control on tough, intermittently wet ground. The seed is a traditional staple grain, cooked whole or ground into flour with cornmeal.
- Family
- Poaceae
- Type
- grass
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 2–2 ft
- Spacing
- 1–3 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- June, July, August
- Bloom colors
- yellow
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, larval host, mammals
- Landscape uses
- border, erosion control, naturalizing
- Native states
- AR, AZ, CO, KS, MO, NM, OK, TX, UT
Related native plants
More Panicum species
- Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)
- Witchgrass (Panicum capillare)
- Bitter Panicgrass (Panicum amarum)
- Redtop Panicgrass (Panicum rigidulum)