Name
Cat's Tail Grass, Bottle-brush or Rainbow Grass
Latin Name
Perotis patens
Uses
The inflorescence is sometimes used in flower arrangements. Due to the few leaves, it is seldom grazed. It is sometimes a weed in disturbed places, but is easy to control mechanically.
Description
Length up to 60 cm. Tufted annual with 12 mm leaf blades. Spikelets are small, each with two awns. Leaves are wavy and are blue-green in colour. Inflorescence is an attractive soft, straight spike. This type of grass is unpalatable.
Habitat
Cat's tail Grass occurs in disturbed soils, often in dry, exposed sites. It grows mostly in poor, sandy and compacted soil; also in orchards and cultivated lands, and sometimes on stony slopes and can be found in the Limpopo Province and the Kruger National Park.
Flowers
November - April.
Notes
Cat's Tail Grass is known by a number of names throughout its range. Names include Bottlebrush Grass, Rainbow Grass and Purple-spike Perotis
