Alien Invasives

Purple Pampas Grass (Cortaderia jubata)

Donate

06 October 2016

Purple Pampas Grass (Cortaderia jubata)

This plant is very similar to the Pampas Grass and is easily confused. It is a vigorous, tussock grass up to 3 metres in diameter, with flowering stalks up to 3 metres high. The leaves are bright green and long with rough margins that easily cut skin. Yellowish or purple, feathery flowers appear from November to February.

Other names
Jubata Grass (English)
Pampasgras (Afrikaans)
Invasive status
NEMBA Category 1b
CARA 2002 Category 1

Purple Pampas Grass
Originally from
West tropical South America (Ecuador and Peru to Argentina)
Where is it a problem?
Mostly in Gauteng
How does it spread?
Seed dispersal by wind
Why is it a problem?
It competes and tends to replace indigenous vegetation. It invades open grassland, roadsides, riverbanks and wasteland.
Planting alternatives
East Coast Broomgrass (Miscanthus capensis), Riverbed Grass (Pennisetum macrourum), Cape Thatching Reed (Chondropetalum tectorum), Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus)
Uses
Ornamental and mine dump stabilization

  ·   Privacy policy  ·   Sitemap  ·   © Friends of Sandspruit
-------------------------------