''Cenchrus setaceus'', commonly known as crimson fountaingrass, is a C₄ perennial bunch grass that is native to open, scrubby habitats in East Africa, tropical Africa, the Middle East and south-western Asia. It has been introduced to many parts of the world as an ornamental plant, and has become an

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

in some of them. It is drought-tolerant, grows fast, reaches 3 feet in height, and has many purple, plumose flower spikes.

Environmental threat

Fountaingrass has been introduced to the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, Sicily, Sardinia, southern Spain, Australia, South Africa, Hawaii, the western United States, southern Florida and

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. It thrives in warmer, drier areas and threatens many native species, with which it competes very effectively as an

. It also tends to increase the risk of intense wildfires, to which it is well adapted, thus posing a further threat to certain native species. In Europe, Fountain grass is included since 2017 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, cultivated, transported, commercialized, planted, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.

Gallery

File:Ripening seeds of Pennisetum setaceum.jpg, Ripening seeds of Cenchrus setaceus, In Kannur – Kerala File:Purple Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum) in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 7797.jpg, in Hyderabad, India. File:Purple Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum) in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 7795.jpg, in Hyderabad, India. File:Pennisetum setaceum3.jpg, Detail of ripening seeds. File:Pennisetum setaceum-Guinther.jpg, Invasive, on a

lava flow Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or und ...

near Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

References

External links

Sonoran Desert conservation fact sheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3899117 Bunchgrasses of Africa Bunchgrasses of Asia Flora of North Africa Flora of Northeast Tropical Africa Flora of East Tropical Africa Flora of the Arabian Peninsula Flora of Western Asia Garden plants of Asia Garden plants of Africa Perennial plants