Common Name: Purpletop, Purpletop Tridens

Full to part sun; medium to moderately dry moisture level; well adapted to shallow droughty, infertile soils including sandy and rocky as well as clay soils; very strongly acid to slightly acid pH.  3-5 feet height; blooms late summer into fall; purple flowers; spreads by short, thick rhizomes and rapidly by self-seeding.

Germination Code:  C(60)

Native Region:  Statewide

Attractive, easy-to-grow, tall grass with drooping branches bearing widely spaced reddish-purple spikes, putting a purple haze on fields and open woods.  Seedlings are slow to develop and may be overwhelmed by other grasses on better soils. Readily consumed by grazing livestock.  Attracts butterflies.