Edge/ Carolina Lovegrass

COMMON NAME: Carolina Lovegrass

OTHER COMMON NAME(S): Purple Lovegrass

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Eragrostis pectinacea

FAMILY: Poaceae

COMMUNITY: Edge

STATUS: Native

LIFESPAN: Annual

HEIGHT: 4 to 24 inches

FLOWERTING TIME: July to October

FRUITING TIME: Late July to October

DISTRIBUTION: Throughout southern Canada and the United States ~ Statewide in New Jersey, intrusive in Pine Barrens

IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Erect, ascending, many branched from lower nodes ~ Narrow leaves ~ Tufted, often densely so ~ Spiklets lead color, oval

Consider the often quoted rhyme when identifying grasses:

            “Sedges have edges

            Rushes are round

            Grasses have joints from their tips to the ground.”

GENERAL INFORMATION: This family, Poaceae, is commonly called the grass family.  The genus Eragrostis is named for the Greek God of love, “Eros” and “agrostis”, a grass.  The species pectinacea means “comb-like” and refers to the arrangement of the seeds in the spike—they resemble the teeth of a comb. Carolina Lovegrass is a weed of dry open soil or gardens, waste areas, and railroad sides. Lovegrass makes up a small portion of the diet of the Brown-Capped Rosy Finch found in Colorado and New Mexico, Ipswich Sparrow found in Nova Scotia, and Banner-Tailed Kangaroo Rat found in Southwestern United States.