I love seeing a grass flowering en masse, and this goes double for a species with a beautiful inflorescence.
Although Imperata cylindrica (Cogon grass) is an invasive, it has quite attractive flowerheads, which are white spikes that look fluffy as they mature (see image below).
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| A single flowerhead |
A closer look at the seeds show silky hairs rising from the spikelet. The hairs aid in dispersing the seed by wind (see image below).
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| Seeds of Cogon grass |
When I visited Florida in March 2021, I managed to see some examples of mass flowering for this species. It is actively controlled as an invasive weed, but the fluffy flowerheads are so distinctive that I have repeatedly spotted even small clusters of this species along the roadside as I sped by in a car!
I'd like to share with you some photographs of the mass flowerings that I saw. Enjoy!
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