Common name: Pampas Grass
Cortaderia selloana (Schult. & Schult.f.) Asch. & Graebn. APNI* 
Description: Large, dense usually dioecious or gynodioecious perennial; culms erect, stout, to 4 m high.
Leaves with ligule a rim of hairs 2–3 mm long; blade folded in bud, c. 1 m long, scabrous, margins knife-sharp.
Inflorescence a large plume-like panicle barely exserted above the basal leaves, silvery white to pink, to c. 0.8 m long. Spikelets solitary, 2–6-flowered, 15–18 mm long, the male glabrous, the female with long silky hairs; rachilla disarticulating near the base of the internodes forming a stalk c. 0.5 mm long to the floret, upper part of the rachilla bearded, the lower part glabrous. Lower glume 9–14 mm long, upper 13–15 mm long. Lemmas 1-nerved, soft, tapering into a deciduous slender awn c. 1 mm long; female 13–15 mm long, male 9–12 mm long. Palea 3.5–4 mm long in female florets, c. 5 mm in male.
Flowering: summer–autumn.
Distribution and occurrence: Introduced into many countries as an ornamental; often cultivated, naturalized in open sunny conditions and especially in wetter areas. Native of S Amer.
NSW subdivisions: *CC, *ST
Other Australian states: *Qld *Vic. *Tas. *W.A. *S.A.
Text by S. W. L. Jacobs & S. M. Hastings
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 4 (1993)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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