Specimen plant or background plant in moist informal garden. This is a mid-sized bunching grass until the flower stalk shoots up in the fall. Then it , Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water. Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray , Considertions, The flower stalks need to be removed once no longer showy. , Wildlife, Birds will eat the seeds.  Provides cover. , Habitat, Flatwoods, marshes, coastal swales, cypress ponds, lake shores, cutthroat seep. , Did You Know?, Showy flowers, Showy fruits Host plant for the Clouded Skipper butterfly (Lerema accius) , Did You Know?, Yerba mate, the traditional tea-like beverage from South America, is made with leaves of a close relative to our holly trees, the Ilex Paraguayanis. Y

Specimen plant, screen plantings, sometimes with unusual or weeping form. , Tolerance, Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water. Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray , Considertions, Thorns. , Wildlife, Birds and other wildlife consume the fruit.  Used as browse by deer and rabbits. , Habitat, Dry sites. Open woods, mixed woods, sandy pinelands. , Did You Know?, Showy flowers, Thorns Larval food for hummingbird clearwing moth(Hemaris thysbe), striped hairstreak butterfly(Satyrium liparops), and blinded sphinx