Cortaderia selloana
(Schult. & Schult.f.) Asch. & Graebn. Pampas GrassPlants female or bisexual. Culms to 4.5 m high, nodes glabrous, mostly concealed by leaf-sheaths; leaves glabrous; sheath usually glabrous; blade flat, to 1.8 m long and 2 cm wide, narrowly tapered toward the tips, midrib prominently thickened; ligule a dense row of fine, silky hairs to 4 mm long. Inflorescence a dense, plume-like panicle 25–100 cm long, white, yellowish or purplish. Spikelets 10–17 mm long, spikelets 5–7-flowered; glumes hyaline, narrow-acuminate, 10–15 mm long, subequal; florets narrow-acuminate, about equal to glumes or slightly shorter; lemma narrowly tapered with fine, awn-like apices, 7–13 mm long overall, hyaline, smooth, glabrous or with a few long hairs in bisexual flowers, plumose in female flowers; palea 3–5 mm long, hyaline, glabrous. Flowers Jan–May
MuM, Wim, GleP, VVP, VRiv, GipP, OtP, WaP, Gold, CVU, GGr, DunT, NIS, EGL, HSF, HNF, OtR, Strz. Also naturalised WA, SA, NSW, Tas. Native to South America.America, naturalised New Zealand, southern Africa.
Two subspecies, formerly treated as distinct species. Apparent intermediates occur.
Spinning
