crimson fountaingrass USDA PLANTS Symbol: PESE3
U.S. Nativity: Exotic
Habit: Grass or Grasslike
Pennisetum setaceum (Forsk.) Chiov.
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Taxonomic Rank: Liliopsida: Cyperales: Poaceae
Synonym(s): fountain grass, fountaingrass
Native Range: Africa, Asia ()
Crimson fountaingrass is a perennial, bunch grass that grows from 3-4 ft. (0.9-1.2 m) tall. Leaves are narrow, flat, arching, up to 2 ft. (0.6 m) long and purplish in color. Flowering occurs in summer through fall, when off-white/pinkish plumes develop about 1 ft. (0.3 m) above the leaves. Fruits are dry achenes with long bristles (some cultivars do not produce seed). Crimson fountaingrass is native to Africa and was introduced into Hawaii in 1914 and the southwestern United States in the 1940s. Plants were introduced as ornamentals and have now become invasive in the South.
Identification, Biology, Control and Management Resources
Selected Images from Invasive.orgView All Images at Invasive.org


Diagram or Graphic; Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase). 1950. Manual of the grasses of the United States. USDA Misc. Publ. No. 200. Washington, DC.
USDA PLANTS Database, USDA NRCS PLANTS Database, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage
Flower(s);
Richard Old, XID Services, Inc., Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage
Stem(s);
Richard Old, XID Services, Inc., Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage
Plant(s); plant
Forest & Kim Starr, U.S. Geological Survey, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage

Plant(s); plant
Forest & Kim Starr, U.S. Geological Survey, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage
Plant(s); habit
Forest & Kim Starr, U.S. Geological Survey, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage
Flower(s); seed head
Forest & Kim Starr, U.S. Geological Survey, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage
Flower(s); habit
Forest & Kim Starr, U.S. Geological Survey, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage

Field; habit
Forest & Kim Starr, U.S. Geological Survey, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage
Plant(s); in flower
John M. Randall, The Nature Conservancy, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage
Infestation;
John M. Randall, The Nature Conservancy, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage
Planting; Pennisetum planted in Bahamian landscape
Tony Pernas, USDI National Park Service, Bugwood.org
Additional Resolutions & Image Usage
EDDMapS Distribution:
This map is incomplete and is based only on current site and county level reports made by experts and records obtained from USDA Plants Database. For more information, visit www.eddmaps.org 		 


State(s) Where Reported invasive.
Based on state level agency and organization lists of invasive plants from WeedUS database.
Native Alternatives:
Bothriochloa barbinodis (cane bluestem)
Festuca californica (California fescue)
Muhlenbergia capillaris (hairawn muhly)
Muhlenbergia rigens (deergrass)
Sporobolus airoides (alkali sacaton)


More Information on Native Plants at:
www.beplantwise.org

PlantWise is a partnership between the National Park Service, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, The Garden Club of America and The National Invasive Species Council to prevent harmful invasive plants from invading natural areas.


U.S. National Parks where reported invasive:
Chiricahua National Monument (Arizona)
Lake Mead National Park (Nevada)
Organ Pipe National Monument (Arizona)


Invasive Listing Sources:
California Invasive Plant Council
Faith Campbell, 1998. Plants that Hog the Garden: Invasive Plants in the United States. Fine Gardening Online
Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council
Jil M. Swearingen, Survey of invasive plants occurring on National Park Service lands, 2000-2007
University of Hawaii, Botany Department, Hawaiian Alien Plant Studies, 1998