Mondo Grass is an ornamental grass in the asparagus family. It is an evergreen groundcover that grows up to 8-12 inches tall and is tufted. This plant blooms in the summer and has large racemes that are crowded with showy flowers held well above the foliage, which contrasts well with nearly black leaves. This evergreen groundcover spreads slowly and has some daughter plants that revert to green. Plant in fertile, moist, slightly acidic well-drained soils in the part sun to part shade. It prefers a consistently moist environment. Use in borders, as edging, a groundcover or along stream and pond edges. Relatively pest-free. Quick ID Hints: Thin, grasslike, purple-black linear leaves Mounding groundcover up to 12" tall
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.
Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
High Organic Matter; Loam (Silt)
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0); Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist
Available space
Less than 12 inches
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 0 ft. 8 in. - 1 ft. 0 in. | Width: 0 ft. 8 in. - 1 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Slow
Maintenance
Low; Medium
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (1-3 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Clumping; Spreading
Texture
Fine
Foliage
Broadleaf Evergreen
Leaf color
Black; Purple/Lavender
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Rosulate
Leaf shape
Linear
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf size
> 6 inches long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Leaves are simple, entire, linear, less than an inch wide, 14" long, and black to purple-black in color.
Flower color
Purple/Lavender; White
Flower value
Showy
Flower form
Raceme
Flower shape
Bell
Flower detail
The epithet planiscapus means 'flattened scape' and refers to the flattened flower-stalk. White tinted with lilac bell-shaped flowers appear mid-summer on a raceme that is 2.5" in size.
Bloom time
Summer
Fruit color
Blue
Fruit type
Berry
Fruit size
< 1 inch long, < 1 inch wide
Fruit detail
Fruits are blue globose berries that are less than an inch in size.
Stem detail
Stems are stoloniferous and are spread by runners.