Weeping grass — Microlaena stipoides

Weeping grass — Microlaena stipoides

50 mm native tube
$3.00
$3.00
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Weeping grass (Microlaena stipoides) — feature plant image
  • Weeping grass (Microlaena stipoides) — feature plant image
  • Weeping grass (Microlaena stipoides) — mature plant image
  • Weeping grass — Microlaena stipoides
Weeping grass — Microlaena stipoides

Native Grasses & Groundcovers

Weeping grass — Microlaena stipoides

Microlaena stipoides

Host plant for butterflies and insects Shelter for wildlife Resilient garden plant
$3.00
$3.00

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Size50 mm native tube

In stock and available to order

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Plant profile

At a glance

The essentials for finding the right garden position.

Mature size
Height: 0.2–0.6 m · Width: 0.4–1 m
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Moist, Seasonally wet
Soil
Loamy, Clay, Rocky
Drainage
Poorly drained
Vegetation type
Wetlands / Swamps / Creek Margins, Dry Eucalypt, Wet Eucalypt, Rainforest
Plant lifespan
Perennial
Plant form
Grasses & Groundcovers

Plant ratings

A quick guide to this plant’s value for wildlife and the garden.

Bird food value
Host plant value
Pollinator value
Shelter & habitat value
Flower display
Garden resilience

About this plant

Weeping grass forms a soft green ground layer with fine leaves and delicate seed heads that droop gracefully above the foliage. It has a gentler, more garden-friendly character than many taller tussock grasses and can be used as a native alternative to lawn in lightly used areas. It also weaves beautifully between ferns, shrubs and other understorey plants.

Image credits:
Mature image: waltraud via NatureMapr record via GBIF — CC BY 4.0
Feature image: trevorpreston via NatureMapr record via GBIF — CC BY 4.0

More plant details

Garden uses
Naturalistic ground layer, meadow-style planting, habitat matrix and erosion control; especially suited to sites reflecting Wetlands / Swamps / Creek Margins, Dry Eucalypt, Wet Eucalypt, Rainforest.
Wildlife value
Microlaena stipoides has some pollinator value, but its flowers are less abundant, less accessible or not a major garden food resource. Microlaena stipoides provides supplementary food and foraging opportunities for birds. Microlaena stipoides provides useful grass structure for cover, perching and movement through a layered garden. A recorded food plant for Common Brown butterfly caterpillars (Heteronympha merope). The caterpillars eat the grass at night and shelter around the base of the plant during the day.
Flowering and fruiting
Fine drooping seed heads rise above soft green leaves in moist forest ground layers.
Growth habit
Clumping or spreading native grass with an informal, naturalistic habit; indicative mature size 0.2–0.6 m × 0.4–1 m.
Cautions
Best used as a mixed natural ground layer rather than promoted as a monoculture lawn.