The Eyebrow Grass is blooming in the propagation area. This is one of the few native California grasses that will form anything close to turf or look anything like a lawn. It is thick and bouncey and has those unusual seedheads that look like eyebrows. This would probably be a great larval host plant for caterpillars that eat grass, like ringlets and skippers. For sale now at the UC Botanical Garden. Come to the plant sale tomorrow, Thursday. This will be the last sale before we close up shop to get ready for the big sale at the end of November. This is your chance to buy natives while avoiding the traffic and crowds at the big sale.
It is frustrating how little I can find about grass-eating butterflies. Eyebrow Grass, in the wild, is a caterpillar host for Uncas Skipper and Pahaska Skipper. I'd love to do a lot of grass-feeding trials. But I myself have never even raised one butterfly, so that is a bit of a pipe dream.
ReplyDelete