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  • Cortaderia selloana

Cortaderia selloana

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Common name: Pampas grass


Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) is dramatic, majestic, and tough. This late-season grass native to Brazil, Chile, and Argentina is not the least bit intimidated growing by our monkey puzzle trees (Araucaria araucana) in the Southern Hemisphere Garden. Just about every part of the monkey puzzle tree has stabbing and cutting armor. While pampas grass has elegant arching blue-silver leaves, its knife-like leaf edges cut deep and draw blood. If you want to cut it down, you’ll need a chainsaw. And if you want to get rid of pampas grass, burning it down won’t work. It still manages to come back. 


Like all late-season grasses, pampas grass has the 4-way carbon pathway. This gives it the ability to take in more carbon from the atmosphere, store it and use the carbon without opening its pores. The C4 pathway began millions of years ago during hot cycles on earth. If a plant has to open its pores, it loses precious water in a dry and very hot climate.


When grown as an ornamental grass in hot and dry areas, pampas grass becomes invasive and eventually replaces valuable native plants. No birds or wildlife get food or shelter from this grass. But when you see pampas grass in bloom, you forget the hand slicing and invasive side. Its blue-silver leaves may reach 3 m/9 ft in length. Its silvery white plumes can be as long as 1 m/3 ft. And they sail on stems up to 4m/12 ft. Sky drama and majesty. 


The pictures were taken in the Southern Hemisphere Garden in late summer.


Text and photos by Hughie Jones

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  • Home
  • Updates
    • What's New
    • Garden Stories >
      • Garden Story Index
    • Self-Guided Tours
    • Gardener Walks
    • Curator Updates
    • Guide Training
    • Walks & Talks >
      • Walks and Talks 2025
      • Walks and Talks 2024
      • Walks and Talks 2023
      • Walks and Talks 2022
      • Walks -Talks 2021 & Zoom Tips
    • PDFs of Updates, Tours, & Talks >
      • Self-guided Tours (PDF)
      • Gardener Walks (PDF)
  • Plant IDs
    • ID By Flower Color >
      • Red Flowers
      • Pink Flowers
      • Orange Flowers
      • Yellow Flowers
      • Green Flowers
      • Blue Flowers
      • Purple Flowers
      • White Flowers
    • ID By Type >
      • Annuals
      • Berries-Fruits-Nuts
      • Bulbs, Corms, Rhizomes, Tubers >
        • Bulbs
        • Corms
        • Rhizomes
        • Tubers
      • Ferns
      • Grasses
      • Medicinal Plants
      • Native Plants
      • Perennials >
        • Peonies
        • Salvias
      • Rhododendrons >
        • Rhodendron Erica Notes
      • Shrubs >
        • Calycanthus
        • Hydrangeas >
          • Hydrangea Background
        • Peonies >
          • Peonies-Overview
        • Rhododendrons
        • Roses >
          • Rose Background
      • Trees >
        • Conifers >
          • Cypress
          • Firs
          • Pines
        • Conifer Connect Exhibit
        • Deciduous Trees >
          • Dogwoods
          • Ginkgos
          • Magnolias
          • Witch Hazels
        • Native Trees
        • Tree of the Month
  • In the Garden
    • Map and Collection Lists >
      • Plant Locator
    • Art in the Garden >
      • Symposium & Exhibitions
    • Building and Grounds >
      • Bridges
      • Formal Rose Garden Hardscape and Art
      • Grotto Area & Black Garden
      • Korean Pavilion
      • Maze
    • Gardener Assignments
    • Collections >
      • Ash Collection
      • Camellia Collection
      • Rhododendron Walk
    • Gardens >
      • Gardens A-D >
        • Alma VanDusen Garden
        • Backyard Bird Garden
        • Bentall Garden
        • Black Garden
        • Canadian Heritage Garden >
          • Bees
          • Canadian Heritage Orchard
        • Cascadia Garden
        • Cherry Grove
        • Chilean Garden
      • Gardens E-H >
        • Eastern North America Garden
        • Fern Dell
        • Formal Rose Garden
        • Fragrance Garden
        • Heather Garden
        • Herb Garden
        • Heritage Rose Garden
      • Gardens I-P >
        • Laburnum Walk
        • Livingstone Lake
        • Meconopsis Dell
        • Meditation Garden
        • Mediterranean Garden
        • Ornamental Grasses
        • Perennial Garden
      • Gardens R-Z >
        • Rhododendron Walk
        • Sino-Himayalan Region
        • South African Garden
        • Southern Hemisphere
        • Stone Garden
        • Vegetable Garden
        • Woodland Garden
    • Garden History >
      • History photos
  • Science
    • Animals & Insects >
      • Birds
      • Butterflies and Moths
      • Insect Friends
      • Small Creatures
    • Buds
    • Colour and Vision
    • Dynamic Symmetry - Fibonacci Spirals
    • Flowers
    • Fruit
    • Germination
    • Habitats and Environments
    • Hormones
    • Leaves
    • Life on Earth
    • Light, Energy, and Rainbows
    • Plant Calendars
    • Pollination
    • Pollen
    • Roots
    • Scents
    • Seeds
    • Soil
    • Stems
    • Vascular Plants
    • Web of Interdependence
    • Weeds
  • Bloedel
  • Search
    • Internet links
  • About
    • ERICA, ERICA'S TREE (and a short history of Guiding) - June 14, 2018
  • Contact