Switchgrass has many natural benefits
Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum and hybrids) is a great alternative to non-native ornamental grasses, such as maiden grass. Songbirds, ducks and gamebirds eat the seeds, and the dried foliage provides cover and nesting material. Massed plantings of switchgrass also create a protective habitat for small mammals. It’s even a host plant to several species of butterflies!
This hardy native warm-season grass blooms as days lengthen in the summer. The airy flower panicles develop yellow, pink or purple seedheads, depending on the cultivar. As fall arrives with cooler temperatures and shorter days, many switchgrass varieties’ leaf blades transform from green or blue-green to gold, red or burgundy. A beautiful addition to any garden, learn more about four butterflies that rely on switchgrass as a larval host plant below.
Grow switchgrass as a larval host plant in your garden
Switchgrass is the larval host plant for the four butterfly species shown on the lettered graphic above. Adult butterflies lay their eggs on the leaf blades, and the hatched caterpillars feed on the foliage. Find information about each butterfly’s range below to learn which species you can support by planting switchgrass in your garden.
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A) Arogos skipper (Atrytone arogos)
Range: Isolated colonies in the Midwest from North Dakota to Texas, and in states along the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. -
B) Delaware skipper (Anatrytone logan)
Range: All of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. -
C) Hobomok skipper (Poanes hobomok)
Range: Most of the United States north of Oklahoma east of the Rocky Mountains and into southern Canada. -
D) Northern broken-dash (Wallengrenia egeremet)
Range: All of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains.
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