North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Pityopsis graminifolia

Pityopsis graminifolia (Michx.) Nutt.

narrowleaf silkgrass

Image ID: 2690
Image by: Gardner, Rob
Image Collection: Herbarium Collection

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: PIGR4
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Pityopsis graminifolia
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2017-12-26

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: PITYO2
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Pityopsis
GENUS AUTHORITY: Nutt.
GENUS COMMON: Silkgrass
GENUS SUMMARY: (contributed by Alan S. Weakley & Bruce A. Sorrie)
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Semple in FNA (2006b); Semple & Bowers (1985)=Z; Ward (2004c)=Y; Bowers (1972)=X; Cronquist (1980)=SE. Key based largely on Semple in FNA (2006b).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: ASTERA
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Asteraceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Dumortier 1822 or COMPOSITAE Giseke 1792
FAMILY COMMON: Aster Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 1500-1700 genera and 20,000-25,000 species, shrubs, herbs, trees, and vines, cosmopolitan in distribution.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Cronquist (1980)=SE throughout family treatment.

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect, tufted perennial of sandhills, dry woodlands and forests (such as ridgetop pine/heath communities in the Mountains and maritime forest in the Coastal Plain) and road banks.
STEMS: Stems often with basal offshoots, branched above; upper stem sparsely glandular-hairy to smooth.
LEAVES: Leaves mostly basal with a few alternate leaves above; linear-lance-shaped; 4-12 in. long (reduced upward); covered with silvery-silky, closely pressed hairs.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Composite flowers (heads) on ascending upper branches, on stalks that are silky-hairy and sometimes glandular; heads 1/2-1 in. wide, consisting of 4-13 yellow ray florets encircling a center disk of 30-50 yellow tubular florets. Several unequal series of hairy bracts surround the bell-shaped base of each head.
FRUITS:
COMMENTS: Five varieties are often recognized in this highly variable species. Photo here is identified as P. graminifolia var. latifolia.
HEIGHT: 1-2 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION: Semi-evergreen

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Mixed
BLOOM TIME: Jun-Oct

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
					x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Yellow

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
				x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Disturbed, Dry forests, maritime, Sandhills, Woods margins
NATIVE RANGE: southeastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Narrowleaf Silkgrass is beautiful and easy to grow when given sun and good drainage. Not often offered for sale. During the spring and summer, its attractive foliage looks great even in high humidity or drought. The bright yellow flowers are borne on upright stems above its silvery grass like foliage. Silkgrass will tolerate moderate shade but flowers best in full sun. This plant is attractive to butterflies. It colonizes moderately and makes an effective, unusual groundcover for sunny areas.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 3
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 9
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
815	SOS	2016-10-26	Walker	View
865	SOS	2016-11-16	Dakar	View
872	SOS	2016-11-03	Faucette	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
1829	1986-1610			View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
2920	1829	64	NCBG staff	1984-03-11	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: PIGR4
USDA Common Name: Narrowleaf Silkgrass
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, DE, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, OH, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	UPL				UPL	FACU		UPL

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME:
COMMON NAME:
SYNONYMY:
PHENOLOGY:
HABITAT:
COMMENTS:
RANGE MAP:

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Asteraceae Dumortier 1822 or COMPOSITAE Giseke 1792 (Aster Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 1500-1700 genera and 20,000-25,000 species, shrubs, herbs, trees, and vines, cosmopolitan in distribution.
REFERENCE: Cronquist (1980)=SE throughout family treatment.

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Pityopsis Nutt. (Silkgrass)
SUMMARY: (contributed by Alan S. Weakley & Bruce A. Sorrie)
REFERENCE: Semple in FNA (2006b); Semple & Bowers (1985)=Z; Ward (2004c)=Y; Bowers (1972)=X; Cronquist (1980)=SE. Key based largely on Semple in FNA (2006b).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Pityopsis graminifolia in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Pityopsis graminifolia in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Pityopsis graminifolia in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Pityopsis graminifolia in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Pityopsis graminifolia in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Pityopsis graminifolia

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 2690 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 16290 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 16292 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)