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Home / Browse / Elymus / Eastern Bottlebrush Grass (var. bigeloviana)
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Pictured: Elymus hystrix — the species. This variety isn’t separately illustrated.
Poaceae family

Eastern Bottlebrush Grass (var. bigeloviana) Elymus hystrix var. bigeloviana variety

Native

Eastern Bottlebrush Grass (var. bigeloviana) is a perennial grass native to the lower 48 states.

More about this plant

Elymus hystrix, known as eastern bottlebrush grass, or bottle-brush-grass, is a bunchgrass in the grass family, Poaceae. It is native to the Eastern United States and Eastern Canada. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 4 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Perennial
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~31 caterpillar species

Elymus supports ~31 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a strong genus.

Recorded feeding on Elymus in North America, including:

Agrotis orthogonia · Pale Western Cutworm Apamea devastator · Glassy Cutworm Apamea lignicolora · Wood-Colored Apamea Apamea lutosa · owlet moth Asymmetrura graminivorella Benjaminiola colorada · owlet moth
+ 8 more species →
Cosmiotes illectella · grass-miner moth Elachista epimicta · grass-miner moth Elachista leucofrons · grass-miner moth Elachista orestella · grass-miner moth Elachista praelineata · grass-miner moth Enodia anthedon · brush-footed butterfly Euxoa auxiliaris · Army Cutworm Moth Faronta albilinea · owlet moth
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (13) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[06] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[07] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[08] Conservation rank — NatureServe Explorer (CC BY)
[09] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[11] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[12] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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