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Native Plant Society of Texas

Red Lovegrass

Eragrostis secundiflora

Other common name(s):

Red Love Grass

Family:

Poaceae (Grass Family)

Plant Ecoregion Distribution Map

This map uses data from the US EPA. EPA  servers have been offline frequently so maps may not display. We are working on a solution.

Central Great Plains, Cross Timbers, East Central Texas Plains, Edwards Plateau, Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes, High Plains, Southern Texas Plains, Southwestern Tablelands, Texas Blackland Prairies, Western Gulf Coastal Plain
Broken Red Plains, Limestone Plains, Red Prairie
Carbonate Cross Timbers, Eastern Cross Timbers, Grand Prairie, Limestone Cut Plain, Western Cross Timbers
Bastrop Lost Pines, Floodplains and Low Terraces2, Northern Post Oak Savanna, Northern Prairie Outliers, San Antonio Prairie, Southern Post Oak Savanna
Balcones Canyonlands, Edwards Plateau Woodland, Llano Uplift
Coastal Sand Plain, Floodplains and Low Terraces4, Laguna Madre Barrier Island and Coastal Marshes, Lower Rio Grande Alluvial Floodplain, Lower Rio Grande Valley, Mid-Coast Barrier Islands and Coastal Marshes, Northern Humid Gulf Coastal Prairies, Southern Subhumid Gulf Coastal Prairies, Texas-Louisiana Coastal Marshes
Arid Llano Estacado, Canadian/Cimarron High Plains, Llano Estacado, Rolling Sand Plains, Shinnery Sands
Northern Nueces Alluvial Plains, Rio Grande Floodplain and Terraces, Semiarid Edwards Bajada, Texas-Tamaulipan Thornscrub
Canadian/Cimarron Breaks, Caprock Canyons Badlands Breaks, Flat Tablelands and Valleys, Semiarid Canadian Breaks
Floodplains and Low Terraces1, Northern Blackland Prairie, Southern Blackland Prairie
Flatwoods, Floodplains and Low Terraces3, Pleistocene Fluvial Terraces, Red River Bottomlands, Southern Tertiary Uplands, Tertiary Uplands

Plant Characteristics

Growth Form

Grass & Sedge

Height

1
to
1.5
ft.

Spread

1
to
1.5
ft.

Leaf Retention

Deciduous

Lifespan

Perennial

Habitat and Care Requirements

Soil Type(s)

Loam, Sand, Well Drained

Light Requirement

Sun

Water Requirement

Low

Native Habitat

Grassland, Sand Dunes & Beaches

Bloom and Attraction

Bloom Color

Brown, Green, Purple

Bloom Season

Summer, Fall

Seasonal Interest

Larval Host, Nesting Material

Wildlife Benefit

Birds, Moths

Maintenance

Regular watering is crucial until established; then reduce to avoid overwatering. Pruning back dead foliage in early spring or winter, and allowing it to produce seed annually, can help maintain its health and appearance. Works well for upland wildlife plantings, roadside plantings, and conservation plantings. Red lovegrass is an early successional plant well adapted to colonizing openings and providing erosion control. Not common in plant nurseries but seeds are available commercially. Native habitat: dunes, grasslands, beaches, and roadsides.

Description

Blooms July-November. A warm season grass. It is a tufted perennial. Leaf blades are flat with long hairs above the ligule and green to blue green coloration. The spikelets are in dense clusters on branches and branchlets and are pale green or violate to reddish in color. Larval host: Paradoxical Grass moth. Popular with insect herbivores such as leafhoppers
Previous Scientific Name(s): Eragrostis beyrichii, Eragrostis compacta, Eragrostis yucatana, Poa secundiflora, Eragrostis secundiflora var. capitata, Eragrostis vahlii var. subfasciculata, Megastachya oxylepis var. capitata

References

1) https://seedsource.com/red-lovegrass/, 2) https://itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=40760#null, 3) https://bonap.net/TDC/Image/Map?taxonType=Species&taxonId=18264&locationType=County&mapType=Normal, 4) https://portal.torcherbaria.org/portal/taxa/index.php?taxon=Eragrostis+secundiflora&formsubmit=Search+Terms, 5) https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ERSE, 6) https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_erso.pdf 7) chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_erso.pdf 8) https://www.picturethisai.com/care/Eragrostis_secundiflora.html#:~:text=A%20distinctive%20warm%2Dseason%20grass,its%20characteristic%20red%2Dhued%20panicles. 9) https://plantfinder.nativeplanttrust.org/plant/Eragrostis-spectabilis#:~:text=Wildlife%20Benefits:%20Supports%20the%20paradoxical,hillsides;%20tolerance%20to%20black%20walnut.

Learn about how to propagate Texas native plants.

Material Treatment Method Collection References
Seed Scarification Start by soaking them for 24 hours before planting. This simple step helps kickstart the germination process, which thrives at an optimal temperature of 70°F (21°C). Red lovegrass is best started using greenhouse grown transplants, planted on bedded rows. Seedlings grow and mature quickly and will produce a marketable crop in the year of planting. When cleaned to caryopses seed quality and active germination are very high (≥ 90%) because of this only small amounts of seed is needed to produce a sufficient number transplant to establish production fields. Seed harvest is possible using a variety of methods and implements. Seed ripens indeterminately, and a Woodward Flail-Vac Seed Stripper (Ag-renewal, Inc., Weatherford, Oklahoma) can collect the ripe seed crop without damaging or eliminating the ability to make subsequent harvests of the stand as later flowering florets mature. However, majority of the seed crop will hold well on the plants after complete maturity allowing for combine harvest. An additional benefit of combining is the removal of unfilled florets which increases seed harvest purity. In well managed, irrigated fields, 2-3 harvests can be expected per year. The first harvest is typically in May, with the last harvest in October. Potential seed yields per acre have been calculated at 10 PLS lbs. per acre on 36” bedded rows with a plant population of 14,000 plants per acre. 1) https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_erso.pdf

About the Region

2026 Fall Symposium Logo

This low-elevations region of Texas extends inland from the barrier islands, about 60 or so miles, and stretches from Brownsville to Louisiana. In total, it covers about 9.5 million acres, with a high point of 150 feet in elevation. More than 1000 species of plants can be found in this region. On the southern end, species more common in Mexico (such as Sabal mexicana) and Central America occur.

The barrier islands provide us with dune systems, and clay flats to the inland side, which have species found in these areas alone. Many plants here, such as Ipomoea pes-caprae (beach morning glory), can be found throughout tropical regions of the globe. I’ve encountered the same species on the beaches of Guam.

Once inland, vast marshes and wet prairies occur. Occasionally, oak (Quercus fusiformis) groves can be found. Common grasses include species of Bothriochloa, Paspalum, and Sporobolus; eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides); and switchgrass (Panicum species). Many rivers and creeks cut through the Gulf Prairies, and along these riparian areas various species of trees, Sabal minor, and other plants adapted to clay soils can be found. Due to overgrazing, farming, and fire suppression, woody species such as mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) and huisache (Acacia farnesiana), and invasive species such as chinaberry (Melia azedarach), Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius), and Chinese tallow (Sapium sebiferum) have increased and displaced our native flora.

Source: Wildflowers of Texas by Michael Eason