Eragrostis spectabilis(Pursh) Steud.

purple lovegrass

WFO wfo-0000868452 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Eragrostis spectabilis, photographed by Tom Field
fig. a Tom Field, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-10-10 / obs. 162890795
Eragrostis spectabilis, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. b Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 159296019
Eragrostis spectabilis, photographed by Annika Lindqvist
fig. c Annika Lindqvist, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 158567173
Eragrostis spectabilis, photographed by Jason Swanson
fig. d Jason Swanson, CC0 1.0 / obs. 165444757
Eragrostis spectabilis, photographed by Jeff D Hansen
fig. e Jeff D Hansen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 154126576
Eragrostis spectabilis, photographed by Ethan Rose
fig. f Ethan Rose, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 151528903
Eragrostis spectabilis, photographed by Ethan Rose
fig. g Ethan Rose, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 151318487
Eragrostis spectabilis, photographed by Dan Johnson
fig. h Dan Johnson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 100727540

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 45 botanical countries

Regions where Eragrostis spectabilis is native: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Northeast, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming AlabamaArizonaArkansasColoradoConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineManitobaMarylandMassachusettsMexico NortheastMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriNebraskaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOntarioPennsylvaniaQuébecSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasVermontVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming District of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Eragrostis spectabilis, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Northeast MXE
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Nebraska NEB
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 12 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Eragrostis geyeri Steud.
  • Eragrostis pectinacea var. spectabilis (Pursh) A.Gray
  • Eragrostis spectabilis var. sparsihirsuta Farw.
  • Eragrostis spectabilis var. spectabilis
  • Eragrostis velutina Schrad.
  • Erochloe spectabilis Raf.
  • Megastachya spectabilis Roem. & Schult.
  • Poa amabilis Walter
  • Poa hirsuta var. spectabilis (Pursh) Torr.
  • Poa pectinacea Geyer ex Steud.
  • Poa spectabilis Pursh
  • Poa villosa Beyr. ex Schrad.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.