Uruguay pennisetum

Uruguay pennisetum is a large perennial grass growing to 1-4 metres tall.

Description

• Leaves are bright green, up to 50 cm long, flat and rough in texture.

• Flowering stem is purplish and the spike-like seed-heads up to 30 cm long.

• Seed-heads contain large numbers of densely packed flower spikelet clusters.

• Each flower spikelet cluster is surrounded by numerous feathery bristles (10-17 mm long).

• Mature seed-heads are light creamy brown and the seeds are shed with the feathery bristles still surrounding them.

• Seeds are spread via water and by wind for short distances, and also in clothing, animals, pelts. Also spreads via rhizome fragments from human activity (eg. soil movement, dumped garden waste, cultivation)

• Habitats include areas with sandy soils, grasslands, floodplains, roadsides, and waste areas.

What you need to know

Uruguay pennisetum competes with native species and can establish populations in pasture and grasslands.

Management approach

Uruguay pennisetum is declared an unwanted organism by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) because it is capable of causing harm to the natural environment, physical resources or human health in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

These species pose a high risk to our environment, economy, recreation, and cultural values.

Rules

Any species declared a pest, including unwanted organisms, cannot be sold or be in a place where plants are being sold. Pest plants cannot be propagated, bred, or multiplied, communicated, released, or cause to be released, or otherwise spread.

Control

Do not attempt to undertake control of Uruguay pennisetum yourself. Report any sightings to us.