Ferngrass is a small annual grass native to the Mediterranean and Middle East, found mostly as a weed of dry, open ground rather than a garden plant. It completes its life in a single season, so it is grown mainly as a wild or ornamental grass in dry, sunny spots.
Family
Poaceae (Grass family)
Grows as
Grass, Annual
Light
Full sun
Water
Needs little water; it is adapted to dry conditions and rain alone is usually enough.
Soil
Well-drained, poor to average soil, including sandy or gravelly ground.
Temperature
Tolerates mild temperate conditions; frost-tolerant as a winter annual.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Macaronesia, Europe to Iran and Djibouti
Climate
temperate
About
Catapodium rigidum, ferngrass, is a species of annual grass in the family Poaceae (true grasses), distributed around the Mediterranean and the Middle East. It has been widely introduced throughout drier parts of the world, including parts of North America, South America, South Africa, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. Individuals can reach 20 cm (8 in).
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Catapodium rigidum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.