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Plant profile · Austin & Hill Country

Texas Wintergrass

Nassella leucotricha
native · Hill Country

Texas Wintergrass is a grass native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 3–4 ft tall and 1.5 ft wide. It wants full sun and low water, and handles clay soil. Blooms white, green and brown in Mar–Jun. Deer rarely browse it. Good for butterflies.

Will it grow in your yard?

Enter your ZIP. The finder checks Texas Wintergrass 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
Low
Height
3–4 ft
Spread
1.5 ft
Bloom
Mar–Jun · white, green, brown
Foliage
Deciduous or dies back in winter
Soil
Takes clay · recorded on calcareous, clay, dry, sand, well drained
Deer
High — deer rarely browse it
Wildlife
Supports butterflies

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsLlano UpliftEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesLimestone Cut PlainSan Antonio Prairie

1,072 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

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.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.