Wangenheimia

An annual ornamental grass, which bears unusual, feather-like or herringbone-shaped seedheads on long, wiry stems, all summer long.[4] It can grow up to 60 cm (24 in) tall, with long green leaves that have shades of silver when young.[5]

Illustration of Cynosurus lima (synonym of Wangenheimia lima), in Flora Atlantica, 1800

The genus is named after the Prussian botanist Friedrich Adam Julius von Wangenheim (1749–1800).[2][6] The Latin specific epithet of lima refers to the Latin noun of file, often referring to a rough surface.[7] Wangenheimia was first described and published in Methodus on page 200 in 1794.[1] The species was first published in Fund. Agrost. on page 132 in 1820.[8]

The genus is not recognized by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service, listing it as a synonym of Festuca L. and they do not list any known species.[9]

It is native to Spain and Portugal (in Europe) and Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia (in North Africa).[1][10][11]

It is found in grasslands,[12] at altitudes of 500 metres (1,600 ft) above sea level.[13]

It has been cultivated under the name Wangenheimia 'Lima Vulcan',[5] Wangenheimia lima 'Vulcan',[14] or Wangenheimia lima ‘Vulcan’ and “Vulcan Grass”.[15]