Kentucky Plant Atlas




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Poaceae <Paniceae> Pennisetum alopecurioides
Pennisetum alopecuroides (L.) Sprengel
ALI: EU HAB: n/a, n/a, n/a, n/a ABU: n/a, n/a, 0
This Southeast Asian species of "fountain grass" is a common ornamental, with several cultivars that also include the popular purple-spiked forms "Red Head." It has become locally naturalized in s. Ohio (M. Vincent, pers. comm.) and elsewhere in eastern North America (K). The purple form does occur widely in gardens of Ky., and appears to have spread locally by seed in JEFF along the Ohio Rv. (C. Chandler, pers. comm.), at Tom Sawyer State Park and behind Oxmoor shopping center (pers. obs.). Other species in the genus are sometimes grown as ornamentals, and may be confused. P. setaceum is a species of arid Mediterranean regions that includes the purple-spiked cultivar known as "Rubrum." It is naturalized in southwestern states and locally invasive, but remains rare in eastern states (FNA 25). Reports from Ky. and Tenn. need further investigation (Ch, FNA 25, W). P. setaceum differs from alopecurioides in its ciliate (versus scabrous) bristles, more bristles per fascicle (ca. 40-80 versus 20-40), fewer fascicles per cm of spike (8-10 versus 9-16), and generally narrower leaves (mostly 2-3.5 mm wide versus 2-8 mm) that are tighly folded; 2n = 27 versus 18.