Purple Fountaingrass
Cenchrus × cupreus
Not native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
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At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 1 Florida county.
Who uses this plant?
11CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Cenchrus
- Anicla infectaGreen Cutworm Moth
- Dargida diffusaWheat Head Armywotm Moth
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Hylephila phyleusFiery Skipper
- Lerema acciusClouded Skipper, Corn Leaf tier
- Lerodea eufalaEufala Skipper, Gray Skipper, Rice Leafroller
- Mocis latipesSmall Mocis, Striped Grass Looper
- Mythimna sequaxWheat Armyworm
- Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
- Nola cereellaSorghum Cutworm, Sorghum Webworm Moth, Sorgham Webworm Moth
Show all 11
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
7BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Cenchrus
- Cardinalis cardinalisNorthern Cardinal
- Passerina cirisPainted Bunting
- Pheucticus ludovicianusRose-breasted Grosbeak
- Porzana carolinaSora
- Tympanuchus phasianellusSharp-tailed Grouse
- Vireo olivaceusRed-eyed Vireo
- Zenaida asiaticaWhite-winged Dove
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Poaceae
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Conservation status
| Florida rank | Not available |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- 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