Chinese Fountaingrass (Cenchrus purpurascens)
Happy Tuesday Invader Detectives!
Chinese fountaingrass (Cencrhus purpurascens), esummerbell (CC 4.0), iNaturalist, Cenchrus spikelet, Steve818, iNaturalist
Ever see this fuzzy hot dog around town? The term for the flower head above is ‘bottle brush’, but the common name for the look-alike is called bottlebrush grass, so for now, it’s fuzzy hot dog. Chinese Fountaingrass (Cenchrus purpurascens) is native throughout East Asia and Australia and sold for ornamental use; instances of escaping are increasing (Lee, 2023). There are different cultivars, so some features may differ. It’s really easy to spot as a landscaping plant for plazas and housing complexes.
Cenchrus is a deciduous perennial grass. It is clumpy and grows up to 5 ft tall (North Carolina State University Extension, n.d). The leaves are linear, long, and flat in alternate arrangement, and will start to emerge in early spring. When brushing your fingers against the leaf blade, there will be resistance against doing so. The leaves and flowers change from green to amber in summer through early fall (Brookman, 2015). The leaf blade is hairless, but few tiny hairs create a collar where the leaf and stem meet. The flower’s stem is hairy and may change from a round stem to a square stem from the start of the head.
Seeds spread by bird and wind; they also have bristles that allow the seed to adhere to passersby. These bristles stick outward and whorl around the seed.
Look-alikes
Bottlebrush grass (Elymus hystrix)
Elymus hystrix, mefisher, iNaturalist;flowerhead with two spikelets in opposite arrangement, jim-bowhay, iNaturalist
Our native bottlebrush grass (Elymus hystrix) has a similar flower shape yet looks more delicate. Cenchrus and Elymus have different color ranges; Cenchrus changes from green to purple, and Elymus is green-gray-blue to bright green as shown in mefisher and jim-bowhay’s photos above (Brookman, 2015).
Elymus has 2 spikelets alternating up the stem with 2-4 bristles on each spikelet. The leaf collar on the native has little to no hairs, whereas there will be little to some fuzz on the Cenchrus.
Elymus leaf collar, megachile, iNaturalist; Cenchrus leaf collar, davidenrique (CC 4.0), iNaturalist
You may not find these plants in the same habitats. Cenchrus is likely to grow in moist soils anywhere from full sun to partial shade; Elymus is typically found in drier soils in shady areas where the sun shines through the canopy (NCS Extension, n.d.; NCS Extension, n.d.).
Tips for making a good observation record of Chinese fountaingrass
Take photographs that show:
Area where they were found
Infestation/population
photograph a whole plant including flower head, stem, spikelets, leaves, and leaf collar
Make comments that:
Are explicit; if they are intentional or wild
give a rough estimate of the number of bunches and the area covered
any other comments you think might be helpful
References
Brooke, Susan. 2015. Pennisetum alopecuroides/NJ. Retrieved 8/16/23 from https://wiki.bugwood.org/Pennisetum_alopecuroides/NJ
Davidenrique. 2021. Photo. Retrieved 8/16/23 from https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/96793616
Esummerbell. 2022. Photo. Retrieved 8/16/23 from https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/133666411
Jim-bowhay. 2021. Photo. Retrieved 8/16/23 from https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/85939977
Lee, M.T. 2023. Cenchrus purpurascens. Flora of Southeastern United States by North Carolina Botanical Garden. Retrieved 8/16/23 from https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/show-taxon-detail.php?taxonid=2232
Mefisher. 2022. Photo. Retrieved 8/16/23 from https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/120074698
Megachile. 2019. Photo. Retrieved 8/16/23 from https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/28824913
NCU Extension. n.d. Cenchrus alopechuroides. Retrieved 8/16/23 from https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/ely
Comentarios
Agregar un comentario