Botanic Garden >> Gardening > >> Houseplants >> Plants for Details >> Grasses and Bamboo

Eastern Bottlebrush Grass (Elymus hystrix): Shade-Tolerant Native with Distinctive Seed Heads

Overview

Eastern Bottlebrush Grass is a cool-season, perennial bunchgrass native to eastern North American woodlands. It forms loose clumps of broad, green leaves. Its namesake feature is the distinctive, widely spaced, bottlebrush-like spikelets along the upper stem in early summer, which are ornamental and persist.

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Family:	Poaceae (poh-AY-see-ee)
Genus:	Elymus (EL-ih-mus)
Species:	hystrix (HIS-triks)

Synonyms: Elymus hystrix var. hystrix, Hystrix patula.

Cultivation & Uses

Partial to full shade; moist, well-drained, humus-rich soil. One of the few ornamental grasses that thrives in deep shade. Excellent for woodland gardens, naturalistic plantings, and shaded slopes. The unique seed heads are great in dried arrangements. Self-sows moderately.

Grasses and Bamboo: Pampas Grass (Cortaderia selloana); Palm Grass (Setaria palmifolia); Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans); Tiger Grass (Thysanolaena latifolia): A Tropical, Bamboo-Like Grass for Foliage Effect; Centipede Grass (Eremochloa ophiuroides): A Low-Maintenance, Acid-Loving Lawn Grass; Egyptian Grass (Dactyloctenium aegyptium): A Spreading Annual Grass with Crowfoot Seed Heads; Buffalo Grass (Buchloe dactyloides): Synonym of Bouteloua dactyloides; Fakahatchee Grass (Tripsacum dactyloides): Bold Native Grass for Wet Sites; Bear Grass (Xerophyllum tenax): Iconic Western Native for Fire-Adapted Landscapes; Grass Tree (Xanthorrhoea nana): Dwarf Australian Grasstree

Garden Articles

Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon japonicus)

Blue Oat Grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens)

Silver Banner Grass (Miscanthus sacchariflorus)

Blue-eyed Grass 'Lucerne' (Sisyrinchium 'Lucerne')

Fountain Grass 'Hameln' (Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln')

Indian Grass 'Indian Steel' (Sorghastrum nutans): A Metallic-Blue Native Prairie Grass

Feather Grass (Stipa pennata): A European Steppe Grass with Silky, Flowing Awns

Plants

Dallis Grass (Paspalum dilatatum): A Robust Pasture Grass with Sticky Seed Heads

Ribbon Grass 'Picta' (Phalaris arundinacea): A Variegated, Spreading Grass for Wet Sites

Quaking Grass (Briza media): A Delicate Grass with Trembling Heart-Shaped Seed Heads

Deer Grass (Muhlenbergia rigens): Elegant California Native Bunchgrass

Purple Love Grass (Eragrostis spectabilis): Cloud of Purple Haze in Late Summer

Spear Grass Tree (Xanthorrhoea resinifera): Iconic Australian Xanthorrhoea

Australian Grass Tree (Xanthorrhoea preissii): Majestic Trunked Xanthorrhoea