Sweet Vernal Grass is a cool season, annual or short-lived perennial, flowering, evergreen grass native to Europe and Eurasia, but naturalized in much of the United States, including North Carolina. It can be found in meadows, woodland margins, and moors and is typically grown as a lawn grass or a house plant. The grass forms clumps of relatively short leaves and flower spikes on the branches in spring and early summer. The plant is most noted for it fragrance, like new mown hay. Sweet Vernal Grass does best in full sun in moist to dry soil. It will tolerate a variety of soil types. Individual plants have a short lifespan, but you can allow the plant to self-seed. After some time of establishing itself, Sweet Verbal Grass becomes drought tolerant. The dried plant releases a strong fragrance. At one time, Sweet Vernal Grass was included in hay and pasture mixtures for its fragrance, but cattle find it unpalatable. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No known diseases or insect pests.
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.
Herbaceous Perennial; Ornamental Grasses and Sedges
Life cycle
Annual; Perennial
USDA zones
5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b
Light
Dappled Sunlight (Shade through upper canopy all day) | Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Soil texture
Clay; Loam (Silt); Sand
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0); Alkaline (>8.0); Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Occasionally Dry | Occasionally Wet
Available space
12 inches-3 feet
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 1 ft. 8 in. - 3 ft. 0 in. | Width: 1 ft. 0 in. - 2 ft. 0 in.
Maintenance
Low
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (3-15 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Clumping; Columnar; Dense
Leaf feel
Soft
Leaf value
Fragrant
Leaf size
> 6 inches long
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
A tufted grass, thin flat leaves and reaches about 20 inches in height. Crushed leaves have a cut clover smell and dried leaves hold fragrance well. This plant has dense tufts of spiky-looking but soft leaves.
Flower color
Brown/Copper; Gold/Yellow
Flower value
Fragrant
Flower form
Spike
Flower size
< 1 inch
Flower detail
The inflorescence is composed of slender spikes in spring that dry to golden brown. An early grass to flower, it produces pollen, a major irritant to people who suffer from hay fever.
Bloom time
Spring; Summer
Fruit type
Caryopsis
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Non-native
Origin
Macaronesia, Europe to Mongolia, North West Africa
Distribution
Greenland, North and South America, Australia, parts of China, Japan, and the Phillipines
Food & Medicine
Fruit type
Caryopsis
Uses (ethnobotany)
Native Americans used Sweet Vernal Grass to make baskets.