Operation Wildflower
  • Home
  • Albums
  • Links
    • Botanical Gardens
    • OWF Sites
    • Public Parks, Gardens and Reserves
    • Reference Sites
    • Private Parks, Gardens and Reserves
  • Information
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Articles
    • Plant Records
      • Aloes
      • Bulbs
      • Climbers
      • Cycads
      • Euphorbias
      • Ferns
      • Grasses
      • Herbs
      • Orchids
      • Parasites
      • Shrubs
      • Succulents
      • Trees
    • Sources of Information
Home Home » TYPES » Grasses » Pennisetum setaceum, an exotic
Back to Category Overview
Total images in all categories: 10,346
Total number of hits on all images: 5,047,930

Pennisetum setaceum, an exotic

Pennisetum setaceum, an exotic
Start View full size
[Please activate JavaScript in order to see the slideshow]
Previous Previous
Image 48 of 71  
Next Next
Image 50 of 71  
  • Heteropogon contortus, spear grass
  • Imperata cylindrica
  • Melinis repens
  • Melinis repens
  • Melinis repens in flower
  • Melinis repens yellowish inflorescence
  • Paspalum dilatatum
  • Paspalum dilatatum leaves
  • Pennisetum setaceum, an exotic
  • Pentameris curvifolia
  • Phragmites australis
  • Phragmites australis, common reed or fluitjiesriet
  • Pogonarthria squarrosa
  • Schizachyrium sanguineum in the Rhenosterspruit Nature Conservancy
  • Setaria lindenbergiana
  • Setaria megaphylla
  • Setaria megaphylla growing densely

Image information

Description

Pennisetum setaceum, commonly known as fountain grass, purple fountain grass or in Afrikaans pronkgras (flaunt grass or prance grass), is a perennial, tufted grass growing to 1 m in height when flowering. Leaf blades are fairly narrow, tapering to acute tips, the ligule at the tip of the sheath hairy.

The inflorescence is unbranched, a raceme of about 25 cm long, purplish when young, aging to beige. The spikelets become 2,5 mm long, surrounded by brushes of bristly hairs 2 cm long.

This is an exotic from tropical Africa established in parts widespread across most provinces of South Africa. Another well-known tropical exotic from this genus is P. clandestinum or kikuyu grass, unlikely to be removed from South Africa ever.

The habitat is diverse, including fynbos, savanna and parts of the Karoo, often on disturbed land, even on steep, rocky dry slopes.

It is unpalatable to grazers, the leaves hard and coarse but gardeners favour it.

About seven species of Pennisetum are indigenous in South Africa, none of them threatened in their habitat early in the twenty first century (Van Oudtshoorn, et al, 1991; Van Wyk and Malan, 1997; Lowrey and Wright, 1987; iSpot; http://redlist.sanbi.org).

Hits
341
Photographer
Ivan Latti
Author
Ivan Latti
 
Back to Category Overview
Powered by JoomGallery