Texas Signal-grass
Brachiaria texana
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in edges of agricultural fields, other disturbed areas, gardens. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Louisiana (estimated). How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 6 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
- Bloom
- May to December
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 12 Louisiana parishes.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
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
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
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
Plant details
- Family
- Poaceae
- Flower color
- Green
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to December” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Green” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 6 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Annual” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Brachiaria texana; Panicum texanum; Texas Millet; Texas Signal grass; Texas Signalgrass; panicgrass
Conservation status
| Louisiana rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5? |
| LA 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
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- Louisiana 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