Grasses of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

Switch Grass is an erect native perennial grass, growing from 15 inches to 9 feet high. The stem (culm) is round, usually with a reddish to purplish tint on the internodes. Nodes are smooth.

Leaves: Leaf blades are up to 1/2 inch wide (12 mm) and 4 to 24 inches long (10-60 cm), with distinct veins, a prominent mid-vein, usually smooth on upper and lower surfaces, but with a distinctive white patch of hair where the upper surface attaches to the stem. Sometimes the upper surface of the blade may have dense fine hair. Blade margins are usually rough.

Sheaths & Ligules: The leaf sheath is split and also prominently veined, usually with sparse long hair on the margins. The lower sheaths are longer than the internodes, the upper sheaths shorter. Ligules are 2 to 6 mm long and membranous.

The Inflorescence is an open spreading panicle, often being 18 inches in length and often as wide. Spikelets are produced at the ends of the many branches of the panicle. Primary branches usually rebranch once.

Spikelets: Each spikelet will be 2.5 to 8 mm long and 1.2 to 2.5 mm wide, containing an upper and a lower floret. The glumes are distinctly veined, the lower 5 to 9 veins, the upper 7 to 11 veins. The upper glume and lower lemma extend beyond the upper floret and gaping at the top. The lower glume is 1.8 to 3.2 mm long, from 1/2 to 4/5 as long as the spikelet. Within the spikelet, the upper floret is bisexual and shiny and the lower floret is staminate with 3 anthers.

Uses: Switchgrass is an excellent grass for forage and soil stabilization and now has interest as a renewable biofuel resource. It is often cut for winter hay in agricultural areas. Stands of Switch grass benefit from a periodic spring burn. Native varieties self-seed and can become aggressive. Its fall/winter color changes to yellow-orange, providing year-round interest.

Habitat: Switch Grass grows from large scaly rhizomes, the scales closely overlapping. Stems may be single or multiple from the root. Switchgrass requires full sun but tolerates a variety of moisture conditions from dry to wet, in sandy or loamy soil. It's native habitat is the prairie. It is a warm season grass, a sod-former and a common grass of the tall-grass prairie.

Names: The genus name Panicum is from the Latin - either from panis, meaning 'bread, or from panus, meaning an ear of Millet. The genus contains a large number of grass species worldwide, with 30 found just in North America. The species name virgatum, means 'twiggy' or 'wand-like' referring the the spreading branching panicle. The author name for the plant classification, 'L.' refers to Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), Swedish botanist and the developer of the binomial nomenclature of modern taxonomy.

In former years there were many more species classified as Panicum, but due to molecular studies many of those are now classified in the genus Dichanthelium, of which 12 species are found in Minnesota, many with a common name incorporating the word 'panicgrass'.

For the home garden cultivars have been developed that do not self-seed. One particularly ornamental cultivar, ‘Northwind’ is an outstanding grass. It can reach from 3 to 6 feet in height, needs good sun, at least 5 hours per day for a good plant, tolerates average soil. ‘Northwind’ grows very upright, no sprawling or lodging in hot or rainy weather. The flower heads appear only in late summer on sturdy stems. This is a plant to provide a good tall backdrop, support to weaker specimens, and winter interest. The plants can become quite large so give them some room. Other good cultivars that also have some purple color on some of the leaf blades are 'Shenandoah' and 'Prairie Fire'. These will tolerate some daily shade but the cultivar 'Prairie Sky' will lodge if not given full sun. 'Ruby Ribbons' is a shorter cultivar with much purple color. For details and photos of these plants see our article on Ornamental Grasses.