Greek kalamos – reed, agrostis – kind of grass.
Rhizomatous or stoloniferous perennials, sometimes bushy or spreading laterally. Leaves with blades flat or channelled, rolled, long, linear. Ligules membranous. Inflorescences flattened and dense; summer to autumn. Spikelets narrow, 1-flowered, laterally flattened, breaking up at maturity. Glumes with 1 nerve. Lemma shorter than the glumes, 3-5-nerved and with basal hairs and straight or bent awns. Grown for the feathery flower heads that are decorative in floral arrangements and when dried.
Can become invasive although cultivars are often sterile.
Division.
Plants tufted; membranous ligule; callus hairs more or less as long as lemma.
230-250 species from Eurasia, North America and Africa, mostly temperate damp, fertile habitats.
Source: (2005). Poaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
