FNPS Plant Database

Pityopsis graminifolia

silk-grass, silkgrass
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter

Nomenclature

Common Name:

silk-grass, silkgrass

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Pityopsis graminifolia

Family:

Asteraceae (Compositae)

Plant Specifics

Form:

flower

Size:

2-3 ft tall by 1-5 ft wide

Life Span:

Long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

yellow

Fruit Color:

white

Phenology:

evergreen

Noted For:

Showy Flowers, Interesting Foliage

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Wildflower garden. Foliage can be attractive year-round as silvery-gray green. Also suitable for naturalizing. The foliage will spread into a small mat which can be used to some extent as a groundcover.

Considerations:

Cut back after flowering to keep it neat.

Availability:

Native Nurseries, FNPS Plant Sales, Seed

Propagation:

Seed, division.

Light:

Full Sun

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded------------------------------------------------Extremely Dry

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Not wet but not extremely dry ---to--- Very long very dry periods

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Some tolerance to salty wind but not direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand

Soil pH:

Suitable to Grow In:

8A,8B,9A,9B,10A,10B,11

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.



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Ecology

Wildlife:

Pollinators, Butterflies

Attracts bees and butterflies. A pollinator study at the Archbold Biological Station documented over 30 species of bees visiting this species (Deyrup et al. 2002).

Native Habitats:

Sandhill, scrub, scrubby flatwoods, flatwoods, dry prairie, disturbed areas.

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

General Comments:

Minimize competition especially if it is over-topping the Pityopsis.

Citations:

Deyrup, Mark; Jayanthi Edirisinghe, and Beth Norden.  2002. The diversity and floral hosts of bees at the Archbold Biological Station, Florida (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Insecta Mundi. 544.   https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/insectamundi/544



Haehle, Robert G. and Joan Brookwell.  1999.  Native Florida Plants.  Gulf Publishing Company.  Houston, TX.



Huegel, Craig, N.  2012.  Native wildflowers and other ground covers for Florida landscapes. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL.



Tras, Pamela.  2001.  Gardening for Florida's butterflies.  Great Outdoors Publishing, St. Petersburg, FL.



Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2021. Atlas of Florida Plants ( https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ).  Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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