Elliott’s Mess

Back in June 1998, I was botanizing in Southern Georgia, with Woodlander’s Bob McMartney, when I spied a spectacular patch of ornamental grass, growing alongside the road in remote Warren County. We turned around and dug a small division, before heading on. While I was excited at the prospect of a heat tolerant, blue-foliaged grass with great plumes, Bob made fun of my new find as “just a weed”. Back at JLBG, the plant grew amazingly well.

Of course, we wanted to share our amazing find, but had no idea of its id. After asking around, we were directed to a taxonomist for hire, who happened to be a renown plant taxonomy professor at the University of Florida. After sending off a specimen, it wasn’t long before we received a reply, identifying our new grass as the Southeast US native, Eragrostis elliottii. Because it propagated quickly, we were able to introduce it in our 1999 catalog.

For the next several years, it became a great selling garden staple. Then, in 2005, I fielded a phone call from plantsman and garden writer, Rick Darke, who was working on his new book, The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes. Rick wanted to know where we had received the id of our Eragrostis, since he had doubts about its identity. After forwarding him the paperwork from our paid taxonomist, Rick called back to assure us that our plant was actually the South African Eragrostis chloromelas, which was sometimes used in roadside stabilizations in the deep south. Some authorities claim Eragrostis chloromelas to be a synonym of the weeping love grass, Eragrostis curvula, but having grown E. curvula for decades prior, the two are completely different plants. I’d say that grass taxonomy leaves a lot to be desired.

Regardless, what we thought was thorough enough research wasn’t, and we had messed up big time. We immediately stopped selling the plant, and notified our customers, but by then, our introduction had been shared far and wide. Somewhere along the way, the wonderfully descriptive cultivar name ‘Wind Dancer’ was added to make it more marketable. Despite our efforts of nearly 20 years to get its identity corrected in the horticultural word, it appears we haven’t made much progress. Wholesalers, on-line retailers, and even authoritative sites like the Missouri Botanic Garden, all still have it wrong. We could use your help in notifying anyone who still lists this under the incorrect name, that while it is a still a great grass, it is an African native, and not the US native Eragrostis elliottii.

So, what is the real Eragrostis elliottii? I engaged native plant guru, Dr. Patrick McMillan to help me find the correct plant, so we could evaluate it for garden value. In 2022, we finally found the real plant, growing in Jasper County, SC, and were able to bring a division back for garden trials. After 2.5 years in the ground, we think we have a winner. Native from NC west to Texas, the real Elliott’s lovegrass, its native to wet pine savannas. Our garden plant pictured below, however, is thriving in the driest part of our garden among agaves. Unlike it’s cousin, the similar looking Eragrostis spectabilis, it doesn’t seem prone to dying out and moving around the garden as its sibling. We look forward to making this available, hopefully by summer 2025. Winter hardiness should be Zone 7b-10b, at least.

Below is its more northern (North Dakota south to Texas) cousin, Eragrostis spectabilis, which we love, but have never found it satisfactory as a long-lived plant in the garden.