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Imperata cylindrica
Also called Blady Grass, Cotton Wool Grass, Silver Spike, American Grass, Beady Grass, Bedding Grass, Bladey Grass
Cogongrass is a spreading perennial grass with a dense underground rhizome network, notorious as an invasive weed and highly flammable. Grow it only where its aggressive spread is controlled, as ground cover or in managed settings; the red-leaved cultivar 'Red Baron' is the one usually grown in gardens.
Imperata cylindrica (commonly known as cogongrass or kunai grass ) is a species of perennial rhizomatous grass native to tropical and subtropical Asia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Australia, Africa, and Southern Europe. It has also been introduced to Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Southeastern United States. It is a highly flammable pyrophyte, and can spread rapidly by colonizing disturbed areas and encouraging more frequent wildfires.
It is regarded as an excellent plant for thatching the roofs of traditional homes throughout south-east Asia, and is even grown as a crop for this purpose.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Imperata cylindrica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
