Family: Poaceae

An ornamental grass that can dominate natural areas and become a significant fire hazard. There are no records of naturalization in Hawaiʻi, to date. This is an ornamental grass that should be avoided at all costs.

Description and Dispersal:

• Small-sized clumping grass, reaching up to 2.5 ft tall
  
• The green leaves are long and tightly rolled like wire
  
• The golden brown flower cluster are 2 ft tall and stretch above the leaves
  
• Present on Maui; native to Central America
  
• Spread by seeds, commonly by seeds attaching to clothing, machinery, and livestock

High Risk Traits:

• Broad climate tolerance (USDA zones 7–11; heat, cold, drought, salt, fire)
  
• Naturalized in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Europe
  
• Agricultural weed (unpalatable, reduces pasture & livestock carrying capacity)
  
• Environmental weed (forms dense stands, threatens native grasslands)
  
• Congeneric with serious weeds (e.g., N. trichotoma)
  
• Sharp seeds injure livestock, cause blindness, contaminate wool
  
• Unpalatable to grazing animals
  
• Creates fire hazard in dry ecosystems
  
• Forms dense thickets / pure stands
  
• Produces abundant, viable seed
  
• Fast maturity (flowers in first year)
  
• Persistent seed bank (>1 year)
  
• Tolerates fire & mutilation (resprouts; fire enhances seeding)
  
• Dispersed by wind, water, machinery, soil, clothing, footwear, animals
  
• Popular ornamental → intentional human dispersal
  
• Seeds attach externally to animals & survive gut passage

Low Risk Traits:

• No toxicity to animals or humans
  
• Not a host for major crop pests/pathogens
  
• Not shade tolerant
  
• Not a vine, aquatic, nitrogen-fixing, or geophyte
  
• No vegetative fragmentation (reproduces only by seed)
  
• No bird dispersal (birds eat seeds as predators)
  
• Controllable with herbicides (e.g., glyphosate, Gallant)