An easily grown plant, it succeeds in most soils, preferring a sandy soil and a sunny position. Plants can flower too late to ripen their seed in Britain, especially in the western half of the country. A polymorphic species.

Seed - cooked. It can be ground into a flour and used to make bread. Quite fiddly to use, the seed is small and difficult to separate. The seed was an important item of food for the Paiute Indians of south-western N. America.

Seed - sow mid spring in situ and only just cover the seed. Germination should take place within 2 weeks. If the supply of seed is limited, it can also be sown in mid spring in a cold frame. Only just cover the seed. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in summer Division in spring or summer. Very easy, larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring.

Dry sandy gravelly or rocky soil. Thickets and open woods in limestone and sandy clay soils in Texas.