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Grass-Leaf Barbara's Button
Marshallia graminifolia (mar-SHALL-ee-uh gram-in-ee-FOH-lee-uh)
Family: Asteraceae
Native Herbaceous
In late summer and early fall, Grassleaf Barbaras Buttons puts out sweetly fragrant, pink or white blooms above its tidy leaves. The rest of the year, its rosette of low-growing green foliage can provide foreground accents for other blooms. Prefers moist to wet soil so does well near a pond, bog, or in a water garden.
Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox ↗
NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, 49 attributes.
Companions & Conflicts
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full plant profile
Growing Conditions
Plant type
Native Plant; Wildflower
Life cycle
Perennial
USDA zones
7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b
Light
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
High Organic Matter
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0)
Soil drainage
Moist | Occasionally Wet
Available space
12 inches-3 feet
NC region
Coastal
Growth rate
Medium
Maintenance
Low; Medium
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect
Texture
Fine
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate; Rosulate
Leaf shape
Linear
Leaf size
3-6 inches long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Simple or sparingly branched slender stem; scattered narrow leaves broadest near the middle
Flower color
Pink; White
Flower value
Fragrant; Good Cut; Long-lasting
Flower form
Head
Flower shape
Crown; Tubular
Flower size
1-3 inches
Flower detail
1 in. pink flower head composed of only disc flowers; no petals. Blooms from July to October.
Bloom time
Fall; Summer
Fruit color
Brown/Copper
Fruit detail
Displays from September to December
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
South East U.S.A. to Texas
Distribution
Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains from the Carolinas to Texas
Wildlife value
Flowers attract butterflies.
Attracts
Bees; Butterflies; Songbirds
Food & Medicine
Harvest time
Fall
Landscape Use
Landscape location
Coastal; Pond
Landscape theme
Butterfly Garden; Native Garden; Rock Garden; Water Garden
Design feature
Border
Garden tags
#native perennial #white flowers #long-lasting flowers #water garden #pink flowers #fragrant flowers #border planting #pollinator plant #NC native #Coastal OBL #food source nectar #food source pollen #Piedmont Mountains OBL #food source fall #wet soils tolerant #rock garden #Audubon #food source hard mast fruit #coastal plant #cutting garden #boggy sites #NC Native Pollinator Plant #wildflower #pond #moth friendly
Problems & Resistance
Resistant to
Heat
Planted at Hunnicutt
Nobody’s planted this one yet.