Cocongrass (afrikansilkkiheinä) – Imperata cylindrica

The culms (above-ground stems) are short, erect and arise from rhizomes (underground stems). Culms are solitary or tufted. The rhizomes are tough, white, usually 1 m long but can be considerably more, are extensively branched and covered with papery scale leaves at the nodes. Roots are fibrous, emerging from the base of the culm and the nodes on the rhizome. Leaves are stiffly erect, linear-lanceolate, up to 120 cm long and 4-18 mm wide, with a prominent, off-centre, whitish midrib, scabrid margin and pointed tip. The ligule is an inconspicuous membrane, 1-2 mm. The inflorescence is a white, spike-like panicle, terminal, fluffy, 5-20 cm long and up to 2.5 cm in diameter. Spikelets are numerous, 2.5-6 mm long, each surrounded by a basal ring of silky hairs 10 mm long. The grain is oblong, pointed, brown and 1-1.5 mm long. This species is extremely polymorphic, but easily recognizable by its dense, narrowly cylindrical, silky white inflorescence. The blackish stigmas are persistent and very obvious among the white hairs.