Molinia caerulea Moorflamme - Purple Moor-grass

Molinia caerulea 'Moorflamme' is a variety of Purple Moor grass that is attractive, with a very dense habit and remarkable autumn colours. It is a charming, simple and robust perennial grass. The plant forms an erect, swaying column with fine foliage, flowering with fine, dark spikelets between July and October. It adapts to sunny locations and can tolerate dry or waterlogged soils, even clay, but not limestone. Its beautiful structure enhances the garden even in winter. 

Native to Northern Europe, Southwest Asia, and the North, through Siberia, Turkey, and the Caucasus, Molinia caerulea belongs to the Poaceae family. This grass has a thick, fibrous, and tenacious crown. It owes its species name to the blue highlights that characterize its foliage. 'Moorflamme' is a horticultural selection with more foliage and more colourful autumn hues. This perennial forms a slightly stiff but graceful bundle of foliage 45 to 50 cm (18 to 20in) high, 90 cm (35in) in bloom, with a spread of 40-45 cm (16-18in). It bears slender, flat, light bluish-green leaves in summer, turning orange and mixed with purple in autumn, a deeper brown in winter. In summer, tall, sturdy stems rise above the foliage, carrying panicles of fluffy, dark purple spikelets that hug the stems and remain interesting over winter. At maturity, the stems turn violet, and the spikelets dry well before winter. Growth starts late in spring. 

Moorflamme Molinia is a sculptural 'grass' with a harmonious but distinct architecture. Plant en masse for a beautiful effect in a natural garden, or as a small hedge in a contemporary or rural garden. This grass withstands occasional drought well, allowing it to be featured in rockeries, alongside cotton lavenders for example. It will also flourish near water features, where it will help to stabilise the banks, alongside other grasses, plume poppies, willowherbs, or sedges. 

The swollen base of the stems is used for pipe cleaners and toothpicks. In the wild, molinias are hosts to ergot, a cryptogamic disease of cereals which can cause serious neurological disorders due to the hallucinogenic alkaloids it contains. The only cereals not affected are maize and sorghum.