Cortaderia selloana (USA)

Cortaderia selloana (Schult.) Asch. & Graebn., Syn. Mitteleur. Fl. 2(1): 325 1900. (Syn: Arundo dioeca Spreng. [Illegitimate]; Arundo dioica Spreng.; Arundo kila Spreng. ex Steud. [Invalid]; Arundo selloana Schult. & Schult.f.; Cortaderia argentea (Nees) Stapf; Cortaderia dioica Speg. [Illegitimate]; Gynerium argenteum Nees; Gynerium argenteum var. argenteum ; Gynerium dioicum Dallière [Invalid]; Gynerium purpureum Carrière; Moorea argentea (Nees) Lem.);

Alabama; Angola; Argentina Northeast; Argentina Northwest; Argentina South;
Azores; Bolivia; Brazil Northeast; Brazil South; California; Canary Is.; Cape
Provinces; Chile Central; Chile North; Chile South; China Southeast; Colombia;
Corse; Costa Rica; Cyprus; East Aegean Is.; Egypt; France; Georgia; Great
Britain; Hawaii; Honduras; Jawa; Kriti; KwaZulu-Natal; Libya; Louisiana;
Madeira; Mexico Central; Mexico Northeast; Mexico Northwest; Mexico Southeast;
Mexico Southwest; Morocco; New Jersey; New South Wales; New Zealand North; New
Zealand South; North Caucasus; Northern Provinces; Oregon; Paraguay;
Philippines; Portugal; Queensland; Sardegna; Saudi Arabia; South Australia;
South Carolina; Spain; Taiwan; Tasmania; Tennessee; Texas; Transcaucasus;
Trinidad-Tobago; Turkey; Turkey-in-Europe; Uruguay; Utah; Venezuela; Victoria;
Virginia; Western Australia; Yugoslavia as per Catalogue of Life;

Cortaderia selloana, commonly known as pampas grass, is a flowering plant native to southern South America, including the pampas after which it is named.

It is a tall grass, growing in dense tussocks that can reach a height of 3 m (10 ft). The leaves are evergreen, long and slender, 1–2 m (3 ft 3 in–6 ft 7 in) long and 1 cm broad, with very sharp edges. The leaves are usually bluish-green, but can be silvery grey. The flowers are produced in a dense white panicle 20–40 cm (8–16 in) long on a 2–3 m (6 ft 7 in–9 ft 10 in) tall stem.

The plant was introduced to Europe, North America and Australia as an ornamental grass, and, to a lesser extent, to provide food for grazing animals. The feathery flower head plumes, when dried, are widely used in flower arrangements and other ornamental displays.

(From Wikipedia on 20.4.13)