Greek mischos – stalk, anthos – flower, referring to the stalked spikelets.
Large, tufted perennial grass with tall, reedy stems. Leaves narrow, flat or folded. Ligules short, membranous, ciliate. Flower clusters plumose, of many hairy spike-like more or less digitate silky branches. Spikelets paired, unequally stalked, with long hairs from the base and falling entire at maturity. Each spikelet with 2 flowers, upper one bisexual, lower reduced and sterile. Lemmas transparent, the upper one usually awned.
Known to hybridise with the closely related genus Saccharum, Sugar.
Division.
Used locally for thatch and brooms.
Large reedy grasses with digitate silky plumose flower heads.
About 20 species from Polynesia and SE Asia.
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.
