Saltgrass
Distichlis spicatanative · Hill Country
Saltgrass is a grass native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 2–3 ft tall and 2 ft wide. It wants full sun and medium water. Blooms yellow in mid summer. Good for birds and butterflies.
Wet ground only. A wetland plant: it needs standing water or saturated soil — a pond edge, creek bank or rain garden, not a dry upland bed.
Will it grow in your yard?
Enter your ZIP. The finder checks Saltgrass against your microclimate, then ranks it against your sun, your watering and deer pressure.
The facts
5 sources- Type
- Grass
- Sun
- Full sun (6–8 hrs of direct sun)
- Water
- Medium
- Height
- 2–3 ft
- Spread
- 2 ft
- Bloom
- Mid Summer · yellow
- Foliage
- Deciduous or dies back in winter
- Soil
- Recorded on moist, saline
- Wildlife
- Supports birds and butterflies
Where it grows
Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:
Balcones CanyonlandsFloodplains and Low Terraces
Can you buy it?
Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.