Purple Needlegrass
Stipa pulchra
California's state grass, a deep-rooted bunchgrass with shimmering purplish awned seed heads. The backbone of the state's vanishing native grasslands, tough through summer drought.
- Family
- Poaceae
- Type
- grass
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 3–3 ft
- Spacing
- 1–2 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- dry
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- June, July
- Bloom colors
- purple, brown
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, larval host
- Landscape uses
- specimen, border, naturalizing
- Native states
- CA