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Tried and True Native Plant Selections
for the Mid-Atlantic
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Elymus hystrix (Bottlebrush Grass)
This graceful plant is the most shade-tolerant native grass, and its distinctive flowering spikes and seed heads are a lovely ornamental feature, showing especially well when backlit. It naturally grows in dry woodlands and barrens mostly north of the Mason-Dixon Line.*
*In the Mid-Atlantic, it is native to DC and rare in the DE Piedmont. In MD, it is found mainly in the mountains and Piedmont and is present throughout PA. In Va, it is common in the mountains and Piedmont, infrequent in the inner Coastal Plain, and rare or lacking in the outer Coastal Plain. You can view the VA counties in which it has been reported here.
Learn more about other Mid-Atlantic plants:
Tried and True Native Plant Fact Sheets