Setaria palmifolia
Common name
palm 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.
SETPAL
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Terrestrial. Disturbed and open forest, shrubland, herbfield, bare land,
Features
Dense, palm-like grass. Root mass dense with tough rhizomes. Stems rounded. Leaves 30-100 x 5-8 cm, pleated (palm frond-like), tapering to a point, harsh, hanging. Seedheads long, narrow, loose spikes, 20-30 cm long, with fuzzy foxtail-like tips; on long arching stems, Dec-Mar.
Similar taxa
This is the only grass with palm-like (plicate) leaves.
Flowering
December, January, February, March
Life cycle
Perennial. Rhizomes and root masses re-sprout. Can also spread via seed. Dumped garden waste, soil and water movement.
Year naturalised
1981
Origin
India
Reason for introduction
Ornamental