Chinese silver grass
Miscanthus sinensis Andersson
- light
- Full sun
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 3.1 m
- wide
- 1.4 m
Poaceae
Also called Susuki Grass, Chinese fairy grass, Zebra grass, Eulalia, Maiden Grass
Formerly Erianthus japonicus, Eulalia japonica, Eulalia zebrina, Miscanthus boninensis, and 21 more
When it flowers
Not known yet in the tropics: too few flowering observations to read a season from.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Perennial or rhizomatous geophyteKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- TemperateKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- China to Malesia, Russian Far East to Temp. E. AsiaKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun (6 h or more)Read from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension full, part; RHS full
- Height
- 2.5 m to 3.7 mRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension 4–12 ft; RHS 2.5–4 m
- Spread
- 1.2 m to 1.5 mRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension 4–6 ft; RHS 1–1.5 m
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources
- Flowers
- PinkRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension pink, red, white; RHS pink
- Coldest it survives
- -24.4 °C (USDA zone 5b)Read from NC State Extension and RHS, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: NC State Extension -28.9 °C; RHS -20 °C
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- Japanese
- ススキ, ハチジョウススキ
- French
- Roseau de Chine, Eulalie
- Chinese
- 芒 (茅丁), 芒, 高山芒
- Chinese (China)
- 芒, 中国芒, 芒草
- Czech
- ozdobnice čínská
- Korean
- 억새, 참억새
- German
- Gewöhnliches Chinaschilf
- Russian
- Веероцветник китайский
- Swedish
- glansmiskantus
- Dutch
- Klein prachtriet
- Danish
- kinesisk elefantgræs
- Polish
- Miskant chiński
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- RHS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY 3.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
- 3D model: Miscanthus sinensis (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.