Bent-awn Plumegrass
Erianthus contortus
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in moist to wet clearings, open woodlands and forests, woodland borders. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Arkansas. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Bloom
- July to October
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Life cycle · Leaves
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 20 Arkansas counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Who uses this plant?
26CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AR
Genus host records with ranges including AR · Saccharum
- Agrotis ipsilonIpsilon Dart, Black Cutworm, Greasy Cutworm
- Agrotis malefidaRascal Dart, Pale-Sided Cut-Worm, Shagreened Cut-Worm
- Amblyscirtes vialisCommon Roadside-Skipper, Black Little Skipper
- Anatrytone loganDelaware Skipper, Logan Skipper, Black-Vein Skipper
- Atrytone byssusByssus Skipper, Golden Skipper
- Diatraea crambidoidesSouthern Cornstalk Borer
- Elaphria chalcedoniaChalcedony Midget
- Elaphria nucicoloraSugarcane Midget, Sugarcane Moth
- Elasmopalpus lignosellaLesser Cornstalk Borer
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
Show all 26
- Herpetogramma bipunctalisSouthern Beet Webworm, Two-Spotted Herpetogramma
- Hylephila phyleusFiery Skipper
- Lerema acciusClouded Skipper, Corn Leaf tier
- Lerodea eufalaEufala Skipper, Gray Skipper, Rice Leafroller
- Lethe anthedonNorthern Pearly Eye
- Leucania multilineaMany-Lined Wainscot
- Meropleon cosmionComely Brocade
- Mocis disseveransYellow Mocis
- Mocis latipesSmall Mocis, Striped Grass Looper
- Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
- Nomophila nearcticaLucerne Moth, American Celery Webworm
- Panoquina ocolaOcola Skipper, Long-Winged Skiiper
- Polites othoSouthern Broken-Dash, Broken-Dash Skipper
- Spodoptera albulaWhite-Spotted Armyworm, Gray-Streaked Armyworm
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Vernia vernaLittle Glassywing
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Poaceae
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Late July to October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Bent Awn Plume Grass; Bent awn Plumegrass; Saccharum contortum
Conservation status
| Arkansas rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| AR status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Arkansas occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

