Wildrye, Riverbank

Riverbank Wildrye (Elymus riparius) is a perennial grass native to Eastern and Midwestern US states (such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Virginia) that can thrive in USDA Zones 3–8. Reaching a mature height of 3–5 feet with an upright clumping growth habit, it features flat, broad, dark green leaf blades and produces nodding, bristly seed spikes. It thrives in moist, rich alluvial soils along rivers, streams, and bottomlands and is ideal for riparian buffer restoration, bank stabilization, and floodplain revegetation.