Allotments 4 All

Hi,

I've just been asking at the BBC forum and people don't seem to know anything about it's existance.

Basically a friend of mine has lots of plants of what appears to be a black grass. she cut off one of the seed heads for me which i bought home to collect seeds from and sow. but i'm trying to find out what it is as she doesn't know either.

the plant is nearly black with possible shades of brown or purple in it. it looks like it's made of dark bronze....very metallic looking. it's about 3 feet high. the bottom half of the plant is a thick black stem and then above that the grass blades form. the leaves them selves look very much like those of the black phormium (new zealand flax) but unlike the flax this is a very upright plant. and the leaves aren't as thick and rubbery.

above the leaves is a thin single stem that leads to a single, thick bushy seed head. this is purely black and very hairy looking. on the outisde it's covered with hundreds of black round seeds.

anyone know what it is?

Even with a superb description like that a picture is always helpful. It could be one of the dark forms of Pennisetum available now. There are name forms of P.rbrum with very dark foliage.

it will one of the ophiopogons and being black will be Ophiopogon nigrescens - beautiful and possibly one of the only true black plants  :-\

Ophiiopogons are much shorter and do not have the flower and seed heads as described here.

Palustris you're right! thanks to both of you.

i guess i should sow the seeds now then.