Plants usually dioecious, sometimes monoecious. Culms 2-4 m, usually
2-4 times as long as the panicles. Leaves primarily basal; sheaths
mostly glabrous, with a dense tuft of hairs at the collars; ligules 1-2
mm; blades to 2 m long, 3-8 cm wide, mostly flat, cauline, ascending, arching,
bluish-green, abaxial surfaces glabrous basally. Panicles 30-130 cm, only
slightly, if at all, elevated above the foliage, whitish or pinkish when young.
Spikelets 15-17 mm; calluses to 1 mm, with hairs to 2 mm; lemmas
long-attenuate to an awn, awns 2.5-5 mm; paleas to 4 mm; stigmas
exserted. Caryopses and florets not separating easily from the rachilla.
2n = 72.
Cortaderia selloana is native to central South America. It is cultivated
as an ornamental in the warmer parts of North America. It was thought that it
would not become a weed problem because most plants sold as ornamentals are unisexual,
but it is now considered an aggressive weed in California and Bendigo, Australia.
The weedy Australian plants are bisexual (Walsh 1994).
FNA 2003
Common Name: Uruguayan pampas grass Duration: Perennial Nativity: Non-Native Lifeform: Graminoid General: Usually dioecious, but sometimes monoecious perennial, with stems 2-4 m, usually 2-4 times as long as the panicles. Vegetative: Primarily basal leaves, sheaths mostly glabrous, with a dense tuft of hairs at the collars, blades to 2 m long, 3-8 cm wide, mostly flat, cauline, ascending to arching, bluish-green, lower surfaces glabrous basally. Inflorescence: Panicles 30-130 cm, only slightly elevated above the foliage, whitish or pinkish when young; spikelets 15-17 mm, with calluses to 1 mm, with hairs to 2 mm, lemmas long-attenuate to an awn, awns 2.5-5 mm, paleas to 4 mm, stigmas exserted. Ecology: Found in disturbed sites, often along roadways. Notes: Native to South America, brought to the United States as an ornamental. Distinctive with its big arching blades, tall stems that end in white panicles. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Cortaderia is from cortadera, an Argentinian Spanish word for cutting, while selloana is named for Friedrich Sellow (1789-1831) a German plant collector who collected extensively in South America. Synonyms: Cortaderia dioica Editor: SBuckley, 2010