I don’t have this in my yard yet, but I should since purple needlegrass is our state grass

I went to read up on it and learned (as I often do) even more fascinating things about the survival instincts of our native plants. It’s called needlegrass because the seeds are shaped like a torpedo and each seed has a long, thread-like awn attached making it look a lot like a needle and thread.

No brainstorming to speak of on this one. (I keep reminding myself that these are workshop haiku and I can revise to my heart’s content after April is over.)

 

 

 

Purple Needlegrass
roots twenty feet deep
live two hundred years or more
waiting out the drought

@copyright Susan Taylor Brown
April 8, 2009