Tall Grass Prairie

From our walk I am pleased to announce that the Indian Grass is flowering.

 

Yes, grass does bloom.

 

One of the earliest warm season grasses to set seed, this prairie tallgrass forms upright clumps with blue-green summer foliage that turns gold in the fall.

 

It is tolerant of a wide range of soils including the heavy clay crappy farmland around these parts.

 

Many species of grasshoppers and caterpillars feed on Sorghastrum nutans. In turn, these insects are important food sources for upland game birds and song birds, where they will also find ideal nesting habitat in stands of tall prairie grasses such as this.