Wind gusts of up to 20 miles per hour yesterday had the high grasses doing frenetic hula dances. Here you see what we’re told is one of the many cultivated forms of high panic grass (Panicum virgatum), a name that it may have been given due to its reaction to wind.
Panic grass is an important native American prairie tallgrass species that also is called switchgrass. The grass looks good all year with its always-upright blades of forest green turning to sandy tan. It looks especially interesting when it’s snow-capped.
The native grass has been used for forage or hay for cattle, and is being studied as a possible biofuel. It often is planted to stop soil erosion, but some of its cultivars are considered to be invasive by some gardeners. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on December 5, 2022.)