Pampas Grass
Cortaderia selloana
Found in barrier island marsh edges, other disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
—
Not native
Not native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 6–12 feet
- Spread
- 4–6.75 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist

At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- August to November
JFMAMJJASOND
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 6 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.

Habitats
Freshwater marshes; roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
3CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Cortaderia
- Mocis latipesSmall Mocis, Striped Grass Looper
- Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Poaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 6a–10b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to alkaline
- Flower color
- Cream, gray/silver, pink, variegated or white
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “August to November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Cream, gray/silver, pink, variegated or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Hardiness · “Zones 6a–10b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “6–12 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally dry; Occasionally wet; Very dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “4–6.75 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Florida rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Florida (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- 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

