Molinia caerulea Moorhexe - Purple Moor-grass

The Molinia caerulea 'Moorhexe', also known as Blue Moor Grass or 'Moorhexe' Purple Moor Grass, is a grass native to acidic and windswept heathlands, combining charm and solidity. The plant forms a fairly low and upright column, with fine foliage, spectacular in autumn when the wind plays with its blonde and coppery hairs, flowering with clusters of almost black purple spikelets tightly packed against its culms. When planted in sunny locations, it adapts to dry or waterlogged soils, even clayey ones, and structures the flower beds in winter, with its frozen silhouette, from its swollen base to its dark flowering.

Native to Northern Europe, Southwest and North Asia, Siberia, Turkey, and the Caucasus, Molinia caerulea belongs to the Poaceae family. In France, it is found in woodlands, heathlands, and damp meadows. This grass has a thick, fibrous, and tenacious stump. It owes its species name to the blue reflections that characterize its foliage. 'Moorhexe' is a particularly interesting selection for its beautiful autumn colors and flowering. This perennial forms a slightly stiff but graceful clump, resembling a bundle of leaves that reaches 45 to 50 cm (18 to 20in) in height for the foliage, 90 cm (35in) in flowers, with a spread of 40 cm (16in). It bears thin, flat, light green leaves in summer, turning blonde and rusty in autumn, persisting in a darker shade in winter. In late summer, tall, sturdy stems appear above the foliage, carrying panicles of fluffy spikelets in a very dark purple, which cling to the stems and remain interesting in winter. At maturity, the stems are almost black, and the spikelets dry well before winter. Regrowth starts late in spring.

The 'Moorhexe' molinia is a very graphic grass, with a harmonious but distinct architecture. Its presence is strong, its charm subtle and wild. For a beautiful effect in a natural garden, plant it in masses, in a small hedge, in a contemporary or rural garden. This grass  tolerates occasional drought well, allowing it to be included in rockeries, alongside cotton lavenders and wormwoods. It will also find its place near water sources, where it will contribute to stabilizing the banks, alongside other grasses, willowherbs, gunneras, or sedges.

The swollen base of the stems of this grass is used for pipe cleaning and toothpicks. In nature, molinias are hosts to ergot, a cryptogamic disease of cereals, including rye, which, when consumed by humans, causes serious neurological disorders due to the hallucinogenic alkaloids it contains. Among cereals, only maize and sorghum are not affected.