Silver Plume Grass is an ornamental, perennial grass native to the eastern and central United States and often found along roadsides, fields and woodland borders. It is a tall grass, reaching a mature height of 10 feet with a 5 foot spread. Dense clumps of foliage form on reedy stems with flat leaf blades and silvery flower plumes appear from late summer into winter.This plant grows best in meadows and natural areas. Silver Plume Grass does best in average, somewhat dry, well-drained soils in full sun. If the grass is planted in rich, moist, fertile soils it will probably need staking. Cut foliage to the ground in late winter before new shoots appear. Native bees nest in the dead, hollow stems, so gardeners are encouraged to cut back dead stems to 12 to 24 inches and allow them to remain standing until they disintegrate on their own. Read more about best practices for stem-nesting bees in this NC Extension publication . Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No known diseases or insect pests.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Herbaceous Perennial; Native Plant; Ornamental Grasses and Sedges
Life cycle
Perennial
USDA zones
6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b
Light
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil drainage
Moist | Occasionally Dry
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 3 ft. 0 in. - 10 ft. 0 in. | Width: 3 ft. 0 in. - 5 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Rapid
Maintenance
Medium
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (3-15 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Clumping; Dense
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Lanceolate
Leaf size
> 6 inches long
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Basel leaves. Blades reach a length of 30 inches.
Flower color
White
Flower value
Good Cut; Showy
Flower form
Panicle
Flower size
> 6 inches
Flower detail
Flowers bloom in October. Panicles are white to brown in color, reaching a length between 6 and 12 inches, with nodes and internodes that are commonly glabrous.
Bloom time
Fall
Fruit color
Brown/Copper
Fruit type
Achene
Fruit size
< 1 inch long
Fruit detail
Fruits are available November-December. Grain is ellipsoid, reddish, and 0.08 to 0.14 inches in length.
Stem color
Purple/Lavender
Stem detail
Purplish stems up to 10 feet high.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
Eastern and central United States.
Distribution
Delaware south to Florida and west to Texas.
Wildlife value
This is a larval host plant that supports various skipper larvae and Common Wood-Nymph (Cercyonis pegala) which have one brood from late May to October. Adult Common Wood-Nymph butterflies feed on rotting fruit and flower nectar. Dead stems are used by stem-nesting bees
Attracts
Butterflies; Pollinators; Small Mammals; Songbirds