Imperata sp.
(c) Greg Tasney, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Greg Tasney · licence
Family: Poaceae · Type: Perennial · Native
Imperata sp. is a native California perennial in the Poaceae family.
How to tell it apart
vs Phyllostachys: Imperata has silky flower plumes and herbaceous stems; bamboo has woody, hollow stems with nodes.; vs Cortaderia: Imperata's plume is narrow and cylinder-shaped under 2 feet tall; pampas grass is massive with huge feathery plumes.; vs Arundo: Imperata has intact flower heads and solid stems; giant reed has breaking seed heads and hollow stems.; vs Phragmites: Imperata's silvery plume stays intact; common reed's tan-purple plume breaks apart into segments.; vs Saccharum: Imperata has unequally stalked spikelet pairs; sugarcane has one sessile and one stalked spikelet.
Frequently asked questions
Is Imperata sp. native to California?
Yes. Imperata sp. is native to California (recorded as native).
What plant family does Imperata sp. belong to?
Imperata sp. is in the Poaceae family, genus Imperata.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-04-14
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.