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Wiry Panicgrass

Panicum flexile

In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in glades and openings over mafic or calcareous rocks, damp sandy meadows, open woodlands. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you

49
Good

Native to Louisiana. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 94%

Height
Up to about 3 feet
Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Dry to moist
Will it fit your yard?

Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

At a glance

Life cycle
Annual
Bloom
July to October

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves

Recorded in 5 Louisiana parishes.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 4

Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone

Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.

Glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock

Open, thin-soil openings, outcrops and cliffs on dark, magnesium- or iron-rich rock such as serpentine, diabase or gabbro.

Meadows

Open, grassy or flowery ground that is not wet, such as mountain meadows; wet meadows are separate.

Forests and woodlands

Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Louisiana. Shared habitat, not food. 67 animals.

All wildlife of Louisiana

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

22CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including LA

Genus host records with ranges including LA · Panicum

  • Anatrytone loganDelaware Skipper, Logan Skipper, Black-Vein Skipper
  • Ancyloxypha numitorLeast Skipper
  • Dargida diffusaWheat Head Armywotm Moth
  • Dargida rubripennisThe Pink-Streak
  • Hesperia attalusDotted Skipper
  • Hesperia leonardusLeonard's Skipper, Blazing Star Skipper, Pawnee Prairie Skipper, Pawnee Montane Skipper
  • Hylephila phyleusFiery Skipper
  • Hypena scabraGreen Cloverworm Bomolocha, Black Snout
  • Lerema acciusClouded Skipper, Corn Leaf tier
  • Leucania adjutaAdjutant Wainscot
Show all 22
  • Leucania linitaReed Wainscot, Linen Wainscot
  • Marimatha nigrofimbriaBlack-Bordered Lemon
  • Mocis latipesSmall Mocis, Striped Grass Looper
  • Mocis texanaTexas Mocis
  • Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
  • Panoquina ocolaOcola Skipper, Long-Winged Skiiper
  • Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
  • Poanes viatorBroad-Winged Skipper
  • Polites egeremetNorthern Broken-Dash
  • Polites themistoclesTawny-Edged Skipper
  • Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
  • Idioglossa miraculosa
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
35BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Panicum

  • Acanthis flammeaCommon Redpoll
  • Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
  • Aix sponsaWood Duck
  • Anas creccaGreen-winged Teal
  • Anthus rubescensAmerican Pipit
  • Anthus spragueiiSprague's Pipit
  • Aythya collarisRing-necked Duck
  • Calcarius lapponicusLapland Longspur
  • Calcarius ornatusChestnut-collared Longspur
  • Calcarius pictusSmith's Longspur
Show all 35
  • Callipepla gambeliiGambel's Quail
  • Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
  • Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
  • Contopus virensEastern Wood-Pewee
  • Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
  • Dendrocygna bicolorFulvous Whistling-Duck
  • Dolichonyx oryzivorusBobolink
  • Fulica americanaAmerican Coot
  • Gallinula galeataCommon Gallinule
  • Junco hyemalisDark-eyed Junco
  • Mareca streperaGadwall
  • Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
  • Molothrus aterBrown-headed Cowbird
  • Passer domesticusHouse Sparrow
  • Peucaea aestivalisBachman's Sparrow
  • Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting
  • Pooecetes gramineusVesper Sparrow
  • Porzana carolinaSora
  • Quiscalus quisculaCommon Grackle
  • Sialia sialisEastern Bluebird
  • Spizella passerinaChipping Sparrow
  • Spizella pusillaField Sparrow
  • Turdus migratoriusAmerican Robin
  • Xanthocephalus xanthocephalusYellow-headed Blackbird
  • Zenaida macrouraMourning Dove
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Poaceae
Soil pH
Alkaline
Flower color
White, green or brown
Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Wiry Panic Grass

Conservation status

Louisiana rankS2
Global rankG5
LA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources