Imperata

Imperata is a small but widespread genus of tropical and subtropical grasses, commonly known as satintails.

Contents

• Cogongrass imperata cylindrica
• Imperata cylindrica rubra japanese blood grass
• References

Satintail grass species are perennial rhizomatous herbs with solid, erect stems and silky inflorescences. The best known species is Imperata cylindrica, which is recognized as a devastating noxious weed in many places and cultivated as an ornamental plant in others.

The genus is named after Ferrante Imperato, a Renaissance apothecary who lived in Naples in the late 16th and early 17th Centuries. His collection included a herbarium.

1. Imperata brasiliensis - South + Central America, West Indies, southern Mexico
2. Imperata brevifolia - southwestern USA (CA AZ NV UT NM TX)
3. Imperata cheesemanii - Kermadec Islands (part of New Zealand)
4. Imperata condensata - Argentina, Chile
5. Imperata conferta - plumegrass, kunay grass - Southeast Asia, Papuasia, Micronesia
6. Imperata contracta - guayanilla - South + Central America, West Indies, southern Mexico
7. Imperata cylindrica - bladygrass, cogongrass, speargrass, silver-spike - Africa, southern Europe, southwestern Asia; introduced in Central + Eastern Asia, North America, various islands
8. Imperata flavida - Hainan Province in China
9. Imperata minutiflora - Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina
10. Imperata parodii - southern Chile
11. Imperata tenuis - Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Corrientes Province of Argentina

see Cinna Lagurus Miscanthus Saccharum