| Author | J. Presl | |
| Distribution | Southern Outer Banks/barrier islands, southern Coastal Plain, southern Sandhills. First found in NC on Radio Island in Carteret County in 1983. Previously, it had been grown at the Soil Conservation Service farm in Orange County in 1941, so perhaps some NC populations are a result of planting for soil stabilization.
Native of southcentral U.S. and southward; disjunct on the Atlantic seaboard in SC and NC. | |
| Abundance | Rare. | |
| Habitat | Xeric sands of roadsides, railroads, stabilized maritime dunes and flats, old fields. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting June-November. | |
| Identification | This species is quite distinct in its tall culms to 2 feet (or a bit more) that may be rather erect but often are lazy, and a narrow inflorescence that is tinged purple or violet. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | Our plants are ssp. oxylepis.
Species in the genus Eragrostis -- the lovegrasses -- often have inflorescences that are larger than the rest of the plant. Such inflorescences are very open and airy, but other species have more contracted inflorescences. Each spikelet is laterally compressed and contains few to many florets, which lack awns. | |
| Other Common Name(s) | | |
| State Rank | SE * | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | UPL link |
| USACE-emp | UPL link |
