Melica spectabilis Scribn.

vernacular purple oniongrass — species · Poaceae

USDA: MESP
GBIF: 2703106
Rank: species

purple oniongrass (Melica spectabilis) — Platephotograph · mhaysCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Graminoid
Duration: Perennial
Group: Monocot
Family: Poaceae Barnhart
Genus: Melica

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 2 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 2 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: Medium
Moisture use: Low
Fire: High
Salinity: Low
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: Low
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -33 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 110 min.
Precipitation: 12–30 in/yr
pH range: 6–7.5
Root depth: 10 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Rhizomatous
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 2.5 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Porous
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Purple
Fruit colour: Purple
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Late Spring
Seed abundance: Low
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 556,000
Propagation: seed, bulb

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Field Collections Only
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Medium
Graze palatability: High
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 2 counties across 1 state.

Montana view state ↗ 2 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/MESP ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2703106 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z