Cortaderia selloana, commonly known as pampas grass, is a flowering plant native to southern South America, including the Pampas region after which it is named. There are around 25 species in the genus Cortaderia.
It is a tall grass, growing in dense tussocks that can reach a height of 3 m (10 ft). The leaves are long and slender, 1-2 m (3 ft 3 in-6 ft 7 in) long, and 1 cm broad, with very sharp edges. The leaves are usually bluish-green, but can be silvery grey. The flowers are produced in a dense white panicle 20-40 cm (8-16 in) long on a 2-3 m (6 ft 7 in-9 ft 10 in) tall stem.
Video Cortaderia selloana
Cultivation and uses
The plant was introduced to Europe, North America, and Australia as an ornamental grass, and, to a lesser extent, to provide food for grazing animals. The feathery flower head plumes, when dried, are widely used in flower arrangements and other ornamental displays.
Several cultivars are available, including:
- 'Albolineata' -- a small cultivar which grows to only 2 m (6.6 ft) in height: The leaves are variegated, with yellow edges.
- 'Aureolineata'agm
- 'Pumila'agm
- 'Sunningdale Silver'agm -- grows to a height of 4 m (13.1 ft) and has particularly dense flowering plumes
Those marked agm have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Pampas grass is highly adaptable and can grow in a wide range of environments and climates. It also seeds prolifically, with each plant able to produce over one million seeds during its lifetime. As such, in some areas as California, Hawaii or Green Spain it is regarded as an invasive weed. Whilst in New Zealand, South Africa and Peninsular Spain, the plant is banned from sale and propagation for the same reasons. Burning pampas grass does not always kill it at the roots, but chemical weedkiller does.
Author Li Hengrui (???), whose work "Kite Capriccio" (?????) describes life as a child in 1950's Fengtai County, Anhui mentions the use of the long stem of the Puwei (??) (Chinese for Cortaderia selloana) in the construction of kites.
Maps Cortaderia selloana
Etymology
Cortaderia is derived from the Spanish-Argentinian name 'cortaderia', meaning 'cutter', in reference to the sharp leaf margins.
Selloana is named for Friedrich Sellow (1789-1831), a German botanist and naturalist from Potsdam who worked as a plant collector in Brazil. He studied the flora of South America, especially that of Brazil. The specific epithet selloana was given by Josef August and Julius Hermann Schultes in 1827.
References
External links
- Pampas grass
- Cortaderia selloana
- Blueplanetbiomes.org
- Pampas Grass under the microscope
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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