Nimblewill, is a fine-textured, mat-forming native perennial in the Poaceae (grass) family. It is characterized by slender stems, erect early season growth, and narrow leaves that jut out horizontally in different directions. Nimblewill tolerates a wide range of soil conditions, but it prefers to grow in disturbed areas like fields, along roads, woodland edges, or railroad tracks in partial sun and loam, sandy or rocky soils. It tolerates clay soil, full sun, and dense shade. This grass is considered a weed by many but it is also sold as a native warm-season lawn alternative in the south. It turns a distinctive tan color in the winter. In the fall, attractive panicles of spikelets rise above the foliage. They are 3-15 inches long, one-inch wide, purplish-green, and silky. With maturity, the plant tends to sag and grow more horizontally. Reproduction is by seeds and stolons. The root system is fibrous and this grass can reproduce vegetatively by forming rootlets along the lower nodes of its culms. Even though it doesn't have rhizomes, this grass often forms colonies. A warm season grass, it is easy to pull from the ground, but any small piece left behind will start new growth. It is durable in the face of moderately cold temperatures and resistant to pest problems. Insects, and Other Plant Problems: No serious insect or disease problems.
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 sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Clay; Loam (Silt); Sand; Shallow Rocky
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0); Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist | Occasionally Dry
Available space
12 inches-3 feet
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 0 ft. 9 in. - 1 ft. 6 in. | Width: 1 ft. 0 in. - 2 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Rapid
Maintenance
High
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (1-3 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Dense; Multi-stemmed; Prostrate; Spreading
Texture
Fine
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Gray/Silver; Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Linear
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf feel
Smooth
Leaf value
Showy
Leaf size
1-3 inches long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
The gray-green or blue-green leaves are up to 3½ inches long and 1/5 of an inch across. They are smooth and ascending to widely spreading. The leaf blades are either flat or furrowed longitudinally with parallel venation. Leaves are rolled in the bud. The leafy culms of this grass are initially erect, but they have a tendency to sprawl later in the year when their inflorescences develop. The culms are light green to pale purple (less often bright red), terete, and glabrous; they are often decumbent at their bases and abundantly branched above. The leaf blades are either flat or they are furrowed longitudinally (often with a central furrow and 2 smaller lateral furrows). The leaf sheaths are light green to medium green, longitudinally veined, and hairless; they are rather short and expose the culms at intervals. The lower nodes are swollen, glabrous, and pale green to pale red; the upper nodes are more dark and sunken in appearance. The ligules are inconspicuously hairy.
Fall color
Brown/Copper
Flower color
Gray/Silver; Green; Purple/Lavender
Flower value
Showy
Flower form
Insignificant; Panicle; Spike
Flower size
3-6 inches
Flower detail
The grass-like upper culms terminate in narrow panicles of spikelets about 2 to 8 inches long that are grayish-green, purplish green, or silvery green. Each panicle has a central stalk (rachis), short erect branches (up to 2" long), and a spike-like appearance and rather shiny during the period of bloom. The spikelets are narrowly lanceoloid in shape; each spikelet has 1 or 2 tiny glumes, a single awned lemma, and a membranous palea enclosing a perfect floret. The bodies of the lemmas are as long as the spikelets; they are narrowly lanceolate, convex along their outer surfaces, longitudinally 3-veined, and finely hairy toward their bases. The blooming period occurs from mid-summer to early autumn. The florets are cross-pollinated by the wind.
Bloom time
Fall; Summer
Fruit color
Brown/Copper
Fruit type
Caryopsis
Fruit size
< 1 inch long, < 1 inch wide
Fruit detail
After the blooming period, the florets are cross-polinated by the wind. Mature spikelets then disarticulate above their glumes and fall to the ground. The grains are tiny, spindle-shaped (fusiform), and brownish.
Stem color
Green
Stem detail
The 1/2 to 2-foot long stems are slender, wiry, round and smooth. Growth is erect in spring but sags more with age.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
Southeast Canada, North America, to Mexico and Brazil
Distribution
AL, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WI, WV
Wildlife value
Birds will eat the seeds. Livestock will eat young shoots.