Location: Meadows, Pavilions Greenroof
In Bloom: July through October

Purpletop, sometimes called purpletop tridens, is a warm-season meadow grass that can grow up to seven feet tall. It is native to the eastern US and is often found in fields, prairies, power line cuts, and open meadows. Its colorful common name is a reference to its seed heads, which are a dark shade of purple. In the late summers at Glenstone, bunches of Tridens flavus give large swaths of the meadow a hazy, purple look as they blow together in the wind.

–Kevin McDonald, from the Glenstone Field Guide