Northern Sea-Oats grows in shaded areas with fertile soils from Missouri to New Jersey and southward. It does well in full sun in gardens or part-shade or under the light shade of oaks and hickories or along woodland edges. The seedheads are held above the foliage and begin as green and ripen to tan in September-October and look sort of like shrimp. It begins as a clump but does spread some by rhizomes. I bought one plant in a pot from a native plant nursery and it has been doing well for over 10 years along the fence in part-shade. The only bad trait is that it self-sows a good amount, and the seedlings are hard to dig out in places one does not want them. It is sometimes sold by conventional nurseries also and is occasionally found in gardens and landscapes around, but not one of the big grass items. It is a pretty perennial.

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An attractive native ornamental grass which prefers slightly moist areas, in the wild might be found near creeks and rivers or moist habitat, but can tolerate drier areas. Leaves look slightly bamboo-like and will form the attractive green seed heads usually in summer, becoming tan to brownish in the fall. In fall, those can be cut and dried for dried flower arrangements or put in a vase by themselves.

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