Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
← Explore Plants
Plant · P-698
Maygrass
Phalaris caroliniana
Maygrass is an old seed crop of eastern North America, gathered and planted for thousands of years before maize arrived, with caches of its seed heads found stored in dry Ozark bluff shelters. The seed is small, starchy and high in protein, and it ripens by early summer, filling the hungry gap at the end of winter stores. It is also a Phalaris grass, and animals that graze enough of the growing plant can develop a slow, often fatal staggering disease, so it is grown as a seed crop and kept out of pasture rather than grazed.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- Not yet recorded
- Soil
- Silt · Loam
- Moisture
- Moist · Wet
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- Not yet recorded
- Plant type
- Annual
- Mature height
- 3.3–5 ft
- Mature spread
- Not yet recorded
- Plant spacing
- Not yet recorded
- Root type
- Not yet recorded
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
African Rice
Oryza glaberrima
African Rice is a West African grain crop domesticated from a wild relative along the Niger river around 3,000 years ago, still grown as…
Herbaceous
Agrimony
Agrimonia eupatoria
Agrimony is a slender herbaceous perennial of sunny, disturbed ground across Europe and western Asia, grown mainly for the tannin-rich leaves…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–9
Ajwain
Trachyspermum ammi
Ajwain is a frost-tender annual grown for a small, pungently aromatic seed used to flavor curries, pulses, breads and fried pastry, and just…
Herbaceous
Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
Alfalfa is a deep-rooted perennial legume grown worldwide as one of the richest forage crops available, its taproot running six metres or…
Herbaceous · USDA 4–11
Alsike Clover
Trifolium hybridum
Alsike Clover fixes nitrogen in wet, acid ground too cold and heavy for red clover to thrive in, and its flowers keep bees working all season…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–9
Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
Amaranth greens are one of the few leafy vegetables actually built for peak summer heat rather than one that just tolerates it - sown once…
Herbaceous · USDA 2–11
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference