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Portrait of Purple moor-grass

Nature · Ferns, grasses & other plants

Purple moor-grass

Native · flowers July–September · tussocks to 1.2 m · wet heath, bog, moor and rush pasture

Molinia caerulea — Poaceae

Purple moor-grass is the tussocky, deciduous grass that paints the wet uplands and heaths of western and northern Britain in shifting colours, blue-green in summer, tawny orange in autumn and bleached pale in winter. It flowers late, in slim purplish sprays from July to September, and its thick tussocks let it survive moorland fires. Where heather has declined through grazing and pollution, it often takes over vast tracts of peaty moor.

How to spot them

  • ▸Dense tussocks of coarse, upright leaves 4–10 mm wide, blue-green in summer
  • ▸Slim, purplish flower spikes on tall, nearly leafless stems from July to September
  • ▸Leaves turn tawny orange in autumn and pale whitish in winter, when the dead leaves persist
  • ▸Leaf blade meets the stem in a ring of hairs rather than a papery ligule
  • ▸Wet, acidic, nutrient-poor ground: moor, bog, wet heath, fens and rush pasture

How to know it

A late-flowering tussock grass whose leaves shift from blue-green through tawny orange to bleached pale across the year

Purple moor-grass.

Its thick tussocks protect the growing shoots from fire, so it survives when moorland burns

Purple moor-grass.

Vast tracts of acid, boggy western hills are dominated by this tussocky grass

Purple moor-grass — the Wildlife Trusts.

The genus Molinia commemorates a Chilean naturalist, Juan Ignacio Molina

Purple moor-grass.

Its flowers open later than those of almost any other British grass, from July into September

Purple moor-grass — Molinia caerulea.

Quick-fire facts

  • •Flowers July–September; leaves 4–10 mm wide (Freshwater Habitats Trust)
  • •Leaves are blue-green in summer, tawny orange in autumn and pale whitish in winter
  • •Least Concern; widespread in eastern, south-western and northern England, Wales and Scotland
  • •Thick tussocks protect the young shoots from fire, so it thrives after moorland burning
  • •Covers large areas of degraded upland peatland
  • •Purple moor-grass and rush pasture is a Wildlife Trusts priority habitat that supports marsh fritillary butterflies
  • •The genus Molinia honours Juan Ignacio Molina (1740–1829), a Chilean priest and naturalist

Drill it — 5 cards

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Sources