Stipagrostis Plumosa seed

LATIN NAME: Stipagrostis plumosa

COMMON NAME: Feather Grass

The feather grass of the dunes is the silver plume of the dry sand, and the long, feathery awns catch the light through the warm season. The tufted, perennial grass carries the fine, rolled, grey-green leaves and the loose panicles of the small spikelets with the long, feathery, silvery awns that move in the lightest wind, one of the fine, airy sights of the desert garden. The plant is a fine, graceful presence of the dry bank and the gravel bed. It is a plant of the open, sunny, sharp-draining ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The feather grass of the dunes is a fine subject of the plant science, and the silvery awns keep showing up in the work on the desert grasses. The way the long awns anchor and move the seeds over the dry sand has been studied closely, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the sand-binding grasses, the desert monocots and the members of the grass family. The fine, rolled leaves and the tufted habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the feather grass of the dunes is a regular subject of the work on the silver plumes of the dry world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The feather grass of the dunes is a fine, graceful plant of the dry bank and the gravel bed. The loose panicles of the small spikelets with the long, feathery, silvery awns move in the lightest wind, one of the fine, airy sights of the desert garden, and the fine, dense root system holds the loose sand and the drifting soil. The plant stands the heat, the drought and the poor, sandy ground with the ease, and it is one of the fine choices for the desert garden, the dry bank and the sand-binding planting. It has been written up in the horticultural and the ecological papers for the silver plumes and the sand-holding ways, and it is a fine, graceful plant of the open, sunny, sharp-draining garden.

Cut the old plumes back in the late winter and the fresh leaves will come again from the crown.

To grow the feather grass of the dunes from seed, sow the small, narrow seeds across the surface of a tray of loose seed compost, with a light press, keep the tray in a warm, bright spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the open ground. The seedlings appear within a couple of weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun, the warmth and the sharp-draining ground, the silver plumes will move through the warm season.