James R. Allison, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Bugwood.org

Cogon grass
Imperata cylindrica

Description: Cogon grass is a perennial, rhizomatous grass that grows from 2 to over 4 feet in height. The leaves are about an inch wide, have a prominent white midrib, and end in a sharp point. Leaf margins are finely toothed and are embedded with silica crystals. The upper surface of the leaf blade is hairy near the base; the undersurface is usually hairless. The flowers are arranged in a silvery, cylindrical, branching structure, or panicle, about 3-11 inches long and 1.5 inches wide.

Distribution: Cogon grass is native to Korea, Japan, China, India, and tropical eastern Africa. It is nonnative and invasive throughout other tropical regions of the world. In North America it occurs along the Gulf Coast from Mexico east to South Carolina. In the United States it is most common in Mississippi, coastal Alabama, and Florida. Cogon grass was listed as present in Oregon in 1950, although it has not been collected in Oregon for decades.

Resources:

USDA Forest Service

Plant Conservation Alliance, Alien Plant Working Group

Invasive.org