African fountain grass
Pennisetum setaceum
family
Poaceae
origin
Exotic
declaration
Category 3 Restricted Matter (Biosecurity Act 2014)
Must not be distributed or disposed. This means it must not be released into the environment unless the distribution or disposal is authorised in a regulation or under a permit.
Common names
African fountain grass, Fountain grass, Crimson fountain grass, Purple fountain grass, Tender fountain grass.
An upright tufted grass with very narrow leaves and flowering stems growing up to 1 m or more tall. Its long spike-like seed-heads (6-30 cm long) are reddish, pinkish or purplish in colour. These seed-heads contain large numbers of densely packed stalkless flower spikelet clusters. Each flower spikelet cluster is surrounded by numerous feathery bristles (12-26 mm long) and one significantly larger bristle (16-40 mm long). Its mature seed-heads turn straw-coloured or whitish and the seeds are shed with the feathery bristles still surrounding them.
Impact
Impact
Fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum) is regarded as an environmental weed in Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia, New South Wales and South Australia, and as a potential environmental weed in elsewhere in Australia. It was also recently listed as a priority environmental weed in at least one Natural Resource Management region, and appears in the Global Invasive Species Database. For more information from the Queensland Government
Location
Location
Characteristics
Characteristics
Similar Species
Similar Species
Fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum) is regarded as an environmental weed in Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia, New South Wales and South Australia, and as a potential environmental weed in elsewhere in Australia. It was also recently listed as a priority environmental weed in at least one Natural Resource Management region, and appears in the Global Invasive Species Database. For more information from the Queensland Government
