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Elephant grass, napier grass

Wed, 03/19/2008 - 4:51pm — beth56
Pennisetum purpureum -- Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants

Pennisetum purpureum

Non-Native to Florida


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    This invasive giant may appear bamboo-like with its stout, "woody" older stems. However, unlike bamboo, its leaves are very long. It often is a troublesome weed growing along dikes and ditches, in wet or "dry" soils.

    Elephant grass is a NON-NATIVE grass. stems clump-forming, erect, to 12 ft. tall; leaf blades flat, to 2 1/2 ft. long, to more than 1 in. wide, long tapering, margin fine-toothed, midrib strongly ridged; ligules thin with hairy rims; inflorescence long, cylindrical, bottle-brush-like, tan, densely flowered and "bristly", to 12 in. long, to more than 1 in. wide, bristles to 1/2 in. long; spikelets in clusters of 2-3

    View more information and pictures about elephant grass, as contained in the Langeland/Burks book, Identification & Biology of Non-Native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas.

    See the UF/IFAS Assessment, which lists plants according to their invasive status in Florida.

    elephant grass View the herbarium specimen image of the University of Florida Herbarium Digital Imaging Projects.