Tall Manna Grass vs Woolgrass - TreeTime.ca

Tall Manna Grass vs Woolgrass

Glyceria grandis

Scirpus cyperinus

CUSTOM GROW

CUSTOM GROW

Tall Manna Grass
Woolgrass

Manna Grass and other waterside plants are an excellent way to prevent erosion and provide habitat and forage for animals. The difference is that Manna Grass looks better doing it! With distinctive purple grains at the top of its stalks, Manna Grass adds a splash of color to the waterside that most other aquatics can't offer.

Manna Grass is good for returning disturbed sites to nature and provides nourishment to many animals, except for cattle who find it toxic.

Woolgrass is a native perennial sedge that forms dense clumps in wetlands, ditches, and along shorelines. Its ability to thrive in saturated soils and shallow water, combined with its spreading growth habit, makes it especially valuable for waterside & riparian plantings, erosion control, ecological restoration, and naturalization projects.
The distinctive spikelets are covered in brown woolly bristles, which is where it gets the name Woolgrass. It produces seeds that are eaten by waterfowl and small mammals, while its dense stems offer cover and nesting habitat. It grows most actively in spring and fall, slowing or going dormant in the summer heat.

Tall Manna Grass Quick Facts

Woolgrass Quick Facts

Zone: 1a
Zone: 3a
Height: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Spread: 0.6 m (2.0 ft)
Spread: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: wet
Moisture: wet
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: fast
Life span: short
Life span: short
Growth form: upright, colony-forming
Spreading: rhizomes - medium
Suckering: medium

Toxicity: toxic to cattle

Foliage: long thin leaves
Flowers: purple
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, YT, NT, PE
Native to: MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, PE
Other Names: american manna grass, reed manna grass
Other Names: brown woolly sedge, common woolgrass, common woolly bulrush, cottongrass bulrush, marsh bulrush, wool grass