Top native grasses
123 species, native to the US, ranked by caterpillars, then bees and other hosts, food, flowers and shelter.
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Sixweeks Grass
Festuca octoflora
keystone
caterpillars
17
food
8
-
Witch Grass
Panicum capillare
keystone
caterpillars
16
food
30
-
Smooth Witchgrass
Panicum dichotomiflorum
keystone
caterpillars
16
food
28
-
Wiry Witch Grass
Panicum flexile
keystone
caterpillars
15
food
14
-
Philadelphia Panic Grass
Panicum philadelphicum
keystone
caterpillars
15
food
14
-
Bolander's Bluegrass
Poa bolanderi
keystone
caterpillars
15
food
6
flowers
1
-
Small Fescue
Festuca microstachys
keystone
caterpillars
15
food
6
-
Bigelow's Bluegrass
Poa bigelovii
keystone
caterpillars
13
food
6
flowers
1
-
Needle Grama
Bouteloua aristidoides
caterpillars
11
food
26
-
Howell's Bluegrass
Poa howellii
keystone
caterpillars
11
food
5
flowers
1
-
Elliott's Bentgrass
Agrostis elliottiana
caterpillars
9
food
2
flowers
1
-
Sixweeks Grama
Bouteloua barbata
caterpillars
9
food
1
-
Water Paspalum
Paspalum repens
caterpillars
8
food
10
flowers
1
-
Matted Grama
Bouteloua simplex
caterpillars
8
-
California Brome
Bromus carinatus
caterpillars
6
food
17
flowers
6
-
Slender Crabgrass
Digitaria filiformis
caterpillars
6
food
6
-
Carolina Canarygrass
Phalaris caroliniana
caterpillars
6
food
5
-
Mexican Panicgrass
Panicum hirticaule
keystone
caterpillars
5
food
13
-
Bull Crowngrass
Paspalum boscianum
caterpillars
5
food
9
flowers
1
-
Pearl Millet
Cenchrus americanus
caterpillars
5
food
8
shelter
1
-
Dwarf Crabgrass
Digitaria serotina
caterpillars
5
food
6
-
Small-leaf Bentgrass
Agrostis microphylla
caterpillars
5
food
1
-
Coastal Sandbur
Cenchrus spinifex
caterpillars
5
-
Mat Sandbur
Cenchrus longispinus
caterpillars
5
-
Southern Sandbur
Cenchrus echinatus
caterpillars
5
-
Dune Sandbur
Cenchrus tribuloides
caterpillars
5
-
Browntop Signalgrass
Urochloa fusca
caterpillars
4
food
4
-
Winged Panicgrass
Panicum alatum
keystone
caterpillars
3
food
12
-
Little Barley
Hordeum pusillum
caterpillars
3
food
11
-
Annual Hairgrass
Deschampsia danthonioides
caterpillars
3
food
6
-
Rough Barnyard Grass
Echinochloa muricata
caterpillars
3
food
5
-
Scribner's Grass
Deschampsia bolanderi
caterpillars
3
food
5
-
Annual Wild Rice
Zizania aquatica
caterpillars
3
food
4
flowers
4
-
Timothy Canarygrass
Phalaris angusta
caterpillars
3
food
3
-
Slim-spike Three-awn Grass
Aristida longespica
caterpillars
3
food
2
-
Oldfield Three-awn
Aristida oligantha
caterpillars
3
-
Seaside Threeawn
Aristida tuberculosa
caterpillars
3
-
Fork-tip Three-Awn
Aristida dichotoma
caterpillars
3
-
Giant Bristlegrass
Setaria magna
caterpillars
2
food
23
flowers
1
-
Poverty Dropseed
Sporobolus vaginiflorus
caterpillars
2
food
13
flowers
1
-
Whorled Dropseed
Sporobolus pyramidatus
caterpillars
2
food
9
flowers
1
-
Walter's Barnyard Grass
Echinochloa walteri
caterpillars
2
food
8
-
Small Dropseed
Sporobolus neglectus
caterpillars
2
food
7
-
Littleseed Muhly
Muhlenbergia microsperma
caterpillars
2
food
4
-
Teal Lovegrass
Eragrostis hypnoides
caterpillars
2
food
4
-
Texas Signalgrass
Urochloa texana
caterpillars
2
food
4
-
Annual Muhly
Muhlenbergia minutissima
caterpillars
2
food
4
-
Delicate Muhly
Muhlenbergia fragilis
caterpillars
2
food
4
-
Florida Cockspur Grass
Echinochloa paludigena
caterpillars
2
food
4
-
Sixweeks Muhly
Muhlenbergia depauperata
caterpillars
2
food
4