Rattlesnake Master

Eryngium yuccifolium

Apiaceae (Carrot Family)

Button Snakeroot, Button Eryngo, Button Snakeroot, Beargrass, Bear's Grass

Photo Credit: Cressler, Alan, https://www.wildflower.org/gallery/result.php?id_image=60373

Brundage, Stephanie, https://www.wildflower.org/gallery/result.php?id_image=67284

Plant Ecoregion Distribution Map

Native Habitat: Grassland, Woodland

East Central Texas Plains, Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes, Texas Blackland Prairies, Western Gulf Coastal Plain

Maintenance

Remove spent bloom stalks if desired or leave to seed for wildlife. Makes an excellent focal point in a garden.

Comments

Important prairie indicator. Looks like a thistle but is in the carrot family. Leaves are blue-green, long, narrow, yucca-like, with parallel veins and soft prickles widely spaced. Spherical flower heads made of many small white flowers with whitish bracts; honey fragrance. Nectar attracts Monarchs, Skipper and other butterflies; soldier beetles eat pollen; pollinators include bees, wasps and flies.

Growth Form

Herbaceous

Height

3 to

6 ft

Spread

0.5 to

1 ft

Soil Type(s)

Sand, Loam, Clay, Well Drained

Light Requirement

Sun

Water Requirement

Low, Medium

Leaf Retention

Evergreen

Lifespan

Perennial

Bloom Color

White

Bloom Season

Spring, Summer

Seasonal Interest

Nectar, Pollen

Wildlife Benefit

Butterflies, Bees

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References

1) Griffith, Bryce, Omernick & Rodgers (2007). Ecoregions of Texas. 2) https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ERYU. 3) https://portal.torcherbaria.org/portal/taxa/index.php?taxon=Eryngium+yuccifolium&formsubmit=Search+Terms. 4) http://bonap.net/TDC/Image/Map?taxonType=Species&taxonId=1058&locationType=County&mapType=Normal. 5) https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=29506#null

Native Plant Society of Texas