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Index / Search / Sporobolus heterolepis

§1 Plant

Sporobolus heterolepis (A. Gray) A. Gray

vernacular prairie dropseed — species · Poaceae

USDA
SPHE
GBIF
2704766
Rank
species
prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)
Platephotograph · Adam Thada source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus
Sporobolus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 291 counties across 21 states/territories
Legend Native · 291 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
Low
Fire
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
100 min.
Precipitation
20–35 in/yr
pH range
6–7.2
Root depth
12 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Bunch
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
2.3 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Summer
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
1,200,000
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Medium
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 291 counties across 21 states/territories.

Arkansas view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 48 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 9 N ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 34 N ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 12 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Maryland view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 48 N ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 42 N ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 9 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 3 N ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 1 N ▾
North Dakota view state ↗ 26 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 2 N ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 6 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 33 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/SPHE ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2704766 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T08:39:52Z