Weed of the Month: Pennisetum purpureum

Kicking off the new year with a very common weed more commonly known as Elephant Grass, which I’m sure many of us have encountered from time to time in our great outdoors, or if you’ve ever had to bring a neglected area of land or garden back life.

A robust perennial grass which forms bamboo-like clumps, it’s flowering stems known as culms can easily grow up to 7.5 metres tall!

It is considered an environmental weed in Queensland, Western Australia and North Eastern NSW and a sleeper weed in other parts of Australia, and it is a weed of warmer, wetter sites and found in waterways, woodlands and forests, crops, disturbed sites and waste areas. 

Image Credits:

Banner Image: By Imrozbaig – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49613962

Image in graphic: By Mehmet Karatay – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2120484

In the meantime, be sure to check out all of Brooke’s other Featured Weeds via the links and slideshow below:

Impatiens Spp. (Busy Lizzie, Balsam)	Ardisia crenata (Christmas Berry)	Cinnamomum camphora (Camphor Laurel)
Thunbergia plata  (Black-eyed Susan)	Dolichandra ungues-cacti (Cats Claw Creeper)	Lantana camara (Lantana)
Bryophyllum delangoense (Mother of Millions)	Asparagus aethiopicus ‘Spengeri’ (Ground Asparagus Fern)	Asparagus aethiopicus (Climbing Asparagus Fern)
Sphagneticola trilobata (Singapore Daisy)	Salvina molesta (Salvinia)	Anredera cordifoli (Madeira Vine)
Araujia sericifera (Moth Vine)	Aristolochia elegans (Dutchman’s Pipe)	Senna pendula var glabrata (Easter Cassia)
Ipomoea circa (Coastal Morning Glory)	Vigna luteola (Dalrymple Vigna)	Bacharis halimifolia (Groundsel Bush)
Solanum chrysotrichum (Giant Devil’s Fig)	Passiflora suberosa  (Corky Passionfruit Vine)	Macroptilium atropurpureum (Siratro)
Neonotonia wightii  (Glycine vine)	Solanum mauritianum Wild Tobacco Tree	Euphorbia cyathophora (Painted Spurge)