Cortaderia jubata (Lemoine ex Carriere) Stapf, Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results: 

Reject, score: 22 (Go to the risk assessment (Australia))
High risk, score: 26 (Go to the risk assessment (Pacific))

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Andean pampas grass, jubata grass, pink pampas grass, purple pampas grass

Spanish: sacuara

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Robust, tussock grass up to 3 m in diameter, flowering stalks up to 3 m high.  Leaves:  Bright green, up to 1500 mm long x 12 mm wide, reflexed, tips not bristle-like, blade flat to only slightly v-shaped in cross-section, margins rough, cutting; leaves mostly basal to half the height of the flowing stalks.  Inflorescence:  Yellowish or purple, loosely branching, feathery, 600-800 mm long.  Fruits:  Seeds, falling from old inflorescence which remains a dark or yellowish color" (Henderson, 1995; p. 11).

Description from World Grass Species.

Habitat/ecology:  Disturbed areas, clearings, sand dunes, roadsides, grasslands, pastures, alpine shrublands. Invades disturbed areas, smothering other plants and preventing regeneration. Buildup of dry material can significantly increase fire hazard.

In Hawai‘i naturalized in dry to wet zones, from 2000 ft to 7,000 ft. "Forms dense monotypic stands in mesic to humid areas with the potential to replace or compete with native species" (Motooka et al., 2003).

Propagation:  Seed, primarily wind-borne.

Native range:  South America

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Meidell, J. Scott/Oppenheimer, H. L./Bartlett, R. T. (1998) (p. 8) West Maui. Voucher cited: Meidell & Oppenheimer 236 (BISH)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced invasive cultivated	Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. (1998) (p. 152)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Owen, S. J. (1997)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive cultivated	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 495) "Waste places, lowlands, plantation forests and scrub to 800 m".
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)

Comments:  A problem species in New Zealand (declared noxious weed). On Hawai‘i noxious weed list.

See also C. selloana.

Control:  See The Nature Conservancy Stewardship Abstract (PDF format).
See Gosling et al., 2000. and Popay et al., 2003.

Physical: "Removal and burning of flower heads followed by careful removal of the rest of the plant including the crown and all rhizomes may be effective" (Motooka et al., 2003).

Chemical: Treat with herbicide such as Roundup, Galant, or Velpar (Timmins and Mackenzie, 1995). "Sensitive to glyphosate which has been aerially applied on Maui at 2% of product with surfactant, sprayed to wet all plant surfaces.   The same mixture has been used effectively for aerial spot applications using a "spray ball applicator" used to spot spray marijuana (E. Tamura, HDOA.). Davenhill in New Zealand reported glyphosate at 4 lb./acre, hexazinone at 4.8 lb./acre and imazapyr at 1.78 lb./acre were effective, as were two herbicides not yet registered for forest use in Hawaii, haloxyfop and clethodim" (Motooka et al., 2003).

Additional information:  Information from the book "Weeds of Hawaii‘s Pastures and Natural Areas; An Identification and Management Guide" (Motooka et al., 2003). (PDF format).
Report (PDF format) from US Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Haleakala Field Station, Hawaii "Plants of Hawaii".
Information on the Environment Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, web site.
HEAR Harmful Non-Indigenous Species report (HNIS report) and 1-pagecolor-illustrated info sheet (both in PDF format) from HEAR.
The Nature Conservancy photos and Stewardship Abstract (includes control information) (PDF format).

Additional online information about Cortaderia jubata is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Cortaderia jubata may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. 1998. Potential environmental weeds in Australia: Candidate species for preventative control. Canberra, Australia. Biodiversity Group, Environment Australia. 208 pp.

Edgar, E./Connor, H. 2000. Flora of New Zealand, vol. V: Gramineae. Manaaki Whenua Press. .

Gosling, D. S./Shaw, W. B./Beadel, S. M. 2000. Review of control methods for pampas grasses in New Zealand. Department of Conservation, New Zealand. Science for Conservation 165.

Henderson, Lesley. 1995. Plant invaders of Southern Africa. Plant Protection Research Institute Handbook No. 5, Agriculture Research Council, ARC/LNR, Pretoria, South Africa. 177 pp.

Meidell, J. Scott/Oppenheimer, H. L./Bartlett, R. T. 1998. New plant records from West Maui. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1997. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 56:6-8.

Motooka, Philip/Castro, Luisa/Nelson, Duane/ Nagai, Guy/Ching, Lincoln. 2003. Weeds of Hawaii‘s Pastures and Natural Areas; An Identification and Management Guide. College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa. 184 pp.

Motooka, Philip/Ching, Lincoln/Nagai, Guy. 2002. Herbicidal Weed Control Methods for Pasture and Natural Areas of Hawaii. Cooperative Extension Service, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawai‘i. CTAHR free publication WC-8.

Owen, S. J. 1997. Ecological weeds on conservation land in New Zealand: A database. Working draft. Wellington, New Zealand. Department of Conservation.

Popay, I./Timmins, S. M./McCluggage, T. 2003. Aerial spraying of pampas grass in difficult conservation sites. Department of Conservation, New Zealand. Science for Conservation 218.

Timmins, S. M./Mackenzie, I. W. 1995. Weeds in New Zealand protected natural areas database. Wellington, New Zealand. Department of Conservation, , Technical Series No. 8. 287 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).