SCIENTIFIC NAME: Sporobolus heterolepis
COMMON NAME: Prairie Dropseed, Northern Dropseed
BLOOM TIME: Aug, Sept, Oct
PLANT PROFILE:
- Root depth can be 3 ¼ to 5 ½ foot while the grass height stays about 2 feet tall.
- Originally used for making flour by Native Americans.
- One of the true prairie grasses occurring in prairies, glades, & open ground
- Snow does not flatten the plant, so it is visible even in winter.
- Smells like popcorn or cilantro in late summer & fall.
INSECT/ANIMAL INTERACTIONS:
- The seeds are eaten by sparrows and other songbirds from late summer into winter.
- The foliage is readily eaten by bison, cattle, and horses.
- Sometimes small rodents dig burrows within the dense tufts of leaves and root mass of this prairie grass.