Scientific Name: Pennisetum setaceum
Common Name: fountain grass
Family Name: Poaceae
Origin: Africa, Australia / New Zealand, South Asia / India
Hardiness Zone: Zone 9: (-7 to -1 °C)
Plant Type: Annual, Poales (grass-like)
Mature Size: 0.7 - 1.3m x 0.6 - 1.0m (height x width)
Habit: Arching, Open, Upright
Form: Mounded, Oval - vertical
Texture: Medium - fine
Landscape Uses: Accent plant, Bedding plant, Container planting, Cut flower or foliage, Dried flower or fruit, Specimen plant
Exposure: Full sun, Part sun/part shade
Soil or Media: Well-drained
Leaves: Grass-like, Alternate, Soft flexible, Parallel venation, Rugose, Linear, Serrulate
Flowers: Spikelet, White, Purple, Jul-Aug
Fruit: Grain (caryopsis), Brown, Sep-Oct
Key ID Features:
Perennial up to 1.5m tall; leaves 30cm long x 1.5cm wide, purple-black, with a green midrib below and a catching edge; spikelets arranged in a dense, purple spike (green leafed, white flowered cultivars also available).