Eragrostis spectabilis, commonly known as purple love grass, is a type of warm-season bunchgrass that is native to sandy soils from Maine to South Dakota, and south to Florida, Texas, Arizona, and Mexico. The grass has flat, coarse, green leaves that mostly form a disorganized clump, and can grow up to 10 inches tall. In August, soft reddish-purple flowers appear in a loose, open inflorescence, forming an airy cloud that covers the grass clump and can raise the overall height of the plant to 24 inches. These flowers turn brown and lose color by October. As the seeds mature, the inflorescence usually detaches from the plant and blows along the ground, like a tumbleweed, distributing seed as it goes.
Purple love grass grows best in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. It thrives in sandy or gravelly loams in hot, dry locations, and can tolerate infertile and poor soils. This grass has good resistance to drought and can spread by self-seeding and stems rooting along the ground at the nodes. To propagate, you can use seed or division in spring.
