NPSOT Logo

Switchgrass

Panicum virgatum

Other common name(s):

Wand Panic Grass

Family:

Poaceae (Grass Family)

Plant Ecoregion Distribution Map

Central Great Plains, Chihuahuan Deserts, 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, Red Prairie
Low Mountains and Bajadas
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, Semiarid Edwards Plateau
Coastal Sand Plain, Floodplains and Low Terraces4, Laguna Madre Barrier Island and Coastal Marshes, 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
Canadian/Cimarron High Plains
Northern Nueces Alluvial Plains, Rio Grande Floodplain and Terraces
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

3
to
5
ft.

Spread

2
to
3
ft.

Leaf Retention

Deciduous

Lifespan

Perennial

Habitat and Care Requirements

Soil Type(s)

Sand, Loam, Clay

Light Requirement

Sun, Part Shade

Water Requirement

Medium, High

Native Habitat

Grassland

Bloom and Attraction

Bloom Color

Green, Brown

Bloom Season

Fall

Seasonal Interest

Fall Color, Seeds, Larval Host

Wildlife Benefit

Butterflies, Birds

Maintenance

Good for mass plantings. Used for range re-seeding. Grows in moist areas. Propagation: Seed.

Comments

Upright, clump-forming, warm-season grass. Produces seed in the Fall and turns a pale yellow. One of the dominant species of the tallgrass prairie, but also grows along moist roadsides. Larval Host: Delaware Skipper.

References

1) Griffith, Bryce, Omernick & Rodgers (2007). Ecoregions of Texas. 2) Wasowski and Wasowski, Native Texas Plants Landscaping Region by Region, 1991, pg. 131. 3) https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PAVI2. 4) https://portal.torcherbaria.org/portal/taxa/index.php?taxon=Panicum+virgatum&formsubmit=Search+Terms. 5) http://bonap.net/TDC/Image/Map?taxonType=Species&taxonId=18666&locationType=County&mapType=Normal. 6) https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=40913#null, 7) Native and Adapted Landscape Plants, City of Austin and Texas A&M, 2014.