Purpletop (Tridens flavus)

CORRECTION - About a year ago in an earlier post (see "Trailblazer switchgrass??? - Nov'11"), I incorrectly identified one of the grass species that has been growing in Old Mesic.  After years of head scratching, I finally stumbled upon some useful information that has steered me in the right direction.  What I originally thought was a strain of switchgrass turned out to be Purpletop (Tridens flavus), a native perennial bunchgrass that originally grew in oak savannas and sandy clearings.  According to the University of Michigan Herbarium, this plant has only been documented in a handfull of counties throughout the southern three tiers of counties in Michigan.  In Oakland County where our farm is located, no record of this plant has ever been documented.  This makes the discovery that much sweeter!  Despite a low C-Value of 3 out of 10, I still have not seen it in any of the other high quality natural areas in our area so in Oakland County it may actually be considered more unusual than in other parts of the state.  Either way, I consider it an important component of our restoration projects and look forward to propogating it from seed and planting it in other areas on the farm.