Description
Stipa – Achnatherum – Feather Grass – Needle grass – Spear Grass –
There are about 300 bristly, tufted, evergreen or deciduous, perennial (rarely annual) grass, in this genus. They are found naturally occurring from open woodlands and stony slopes in temperate and warm temperate regions worldwide. They have linear, pleated, inrolled, occasionally flat leaves, and bear narrow loose panicles of flattened spikelets, often with long, feathery or bristly awns, from early summer to autumn. They are grown for their habit, and also for their attractive inflorescences, which may be dried and dyed for use in flower arrangements. Use in a mixed or shrub border.
Grow in moderately fertile, medium to light, well drained soil in full sun. S. arundinacea tolerates heavier soils and partial shade. Cut back deciduous species in early winter, remove dead leaves on evergreens in early spring. Divide from mid spring to early summer.
Prone to damping off, rust, smut, brown patch, brown stripe and eye spot.
S. gigantea – Giant Feather Grass – Golden Oats – This long lived clump or densely tufted, evergreen or semi evergreen perennial from Spain and Portugal, grows 8′ feet tall and half as wide. It forms lax clumps of linear, inrolled, mid green leaves, to 28″ long. Bristled, silvery, purplish spikelets, turning gold when ripe, are borne in long stemmed, oat like panicles, to 20″ long, in summer. Grow as a specimen.
Zones 8-15
