Sorghastrum nutans

Sizes available: #1 (Trade gallon)

Basics: zones 3-9, 5-7' x 1-2', full sun, significant bloom in late summer over blue-green foliage, the seed heads turns a bronzy-brown in autumn as the foliage shifts to tan. Likes dry to medium moisture, tolerant of most soils including clay. Will flop over in soils that are too rich. It can take occasional flooding and is also drought tolerant.

Common names: Indian Grass

Family: Poaceae

Origin/Distribution: Uncommon in New England, but native to the region, occurs from Quebec and Maine to Manitoba, south to Florida and Arizona, then further south to Chiapas in southern Mexico. 

Habitat: fields, open woods, dry slope, tall grass prairies. I imagine that it's habitat preferences are why it is more prevalent in the midwest and south.

More: This is a warm season grass and it is deer resistant and juglone tolerant. It offers year round cover for small mammals and attractive winter structure. The seeds are eaten by birds and mammals and it is a nesting habitat for upland game birds. The leaves are fed on by grasshoppers and caterpillars including the Pepper and Salt Skipper, Amblyscirtes hegon, which is native to Maine. The fresh and dried seed heads are good in flower arrangements.

Nursery: Van Berkum

Image credits: Jelitto Staudensamen GmbH; illustration from Wikimedia Commons