Miscanthus nepalensis
Common name
Himalayan fairy grass
Family
Poaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Grasses
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
MISNEP
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Terrestrial. Waste areas, spreading from roadsides.
Features
Tall tufted perennial grass to about 1 m tall. Culm 40-80 cm, purple-green to yellow-green with purplish nodes. Leaf-sheath often conspicuously purple, with scattered long silky hairs. Leaf-blade 20-60 cm x 4-10 mm, stiff with obvious pale green mid-rib, gradually tapering, margins rough to the touch. Panicle 10-20 cm, golden brown, drooping fan-shaped. Seed 1-1.5 mm.
Similar taxa
The drooping fan-shaped panicle is quite distinctive. M. sinensis is also cultivated and naturalised. M. sinensis has a creamy-brown inflorescence, is larger (to over 2m ) and a form with variegated foliage is widely grown.
Year naturalised
1946
Origin
Nepal/India
Reason For Introduction
Ornamental
Life Cycle Comments
Perennial.