Eragrostis ferruginea Seeds | Rust-coloured Love Grass
LATIN NAME: Eragrostis ferruginea
COMMON NAME: Rust-Coloured Love Grass
Plant Profile
Rust-Coloured Love Grass (Eragrostis ferruginea) is a grass in the grass family (Poaceae), native to dry meadows and open places of the eastern Asia, while it is treasured for its fine, airy, rust-tinted heads. A quiet grass of dry meadows and roadsides, rust-coloured love grass does not shout, but it is everywhere in its range. The whole plant has a soft, feathery look, and the heads sway gently in the lightest breeze, catching the low sun of the late afternoon. It is a close relative of many love grasses grown as ornamental grasses of the border. Through the flowering season it keeps visiting bees well supplied. Each of these traits is modest on its own; together they make a garden-worthy plant.
Science & Biotechnology
Like other members of the grass family, Eragrostis ferruginea draws steady attention from botanists and plant breeders, who value the genus both as a subject of research and as a source of garden-worthy material. Grassland ecologists have kept an eye on love grass for its tough, tufted, soil-holding ways. For researchers, plants like this one offer practical material for propagation studies and selection work.
Uses & Benefits
Rust-Coloured Love Grass brings genuine presence to the garden and earns its keep across the growing season. For grazier and gardener alike, rust-coloured love grass is a dependable plant. Its fine, airy, rust-tinted heads give a soft, warm texture to meadow and border, and its dense, tufted growth holds bank and dry slope, while its small grains feed birds through the autumn. In autumn border its airy, rust-tinted heads catch low light beautifully, and they stand well through winter, keeping a soft, warm presence in the garden. In later seasons it demands little more than an appreciative eye.
Lovegrasses include teff, the tiny iron-rich grain behind Ethiopian injera, a gluten-free staple of global athletes and gourmets alike.
Growing from Seed
Rust-Coloured Love Grass grows readily from seed. Fill a pot with a light seed compost, sow evenly on the surface, cover thinly and stand it somewhere warm, bright and evenly moist. Once the seedlings have made true leaves, pot them on individually and plant out when they are sturdy and conditions are right.
Our Take
The medicinal tradition behind this species, outlined above, is a large part of its interest. Its role in herbal practice, noted above, adds depth to an already garden-worthy plant. Established seedlings need little beyond ordinary attention.
Related Reading
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