Pheasant's tail grass
Anemanthele lessoniana
Also called Anemanthele, New Zealand wind grass, Gossamer grass and Stipa arundinacea
Garden plant · GrassesEvergreen, so comb it rather than cutting it — and it is short-lived, five or six years, but it seeds itself into gravel readily enough that you rarely notice the parent going.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Easy
- Water
- Every 9 daysWater the ground — water at the base, in the morning, not over the leaves.
- Light
- Sun to part shade
- Feed
- Not needed
- Humidity
- Average
- Hardiness
- Hardy — an average winter RHS H4, to -10°C
- Size
- 0.75 m tall · 0.9 m across
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Origin
- New Zealand
Is it safe for pets and people?
PetsNothing recorded against it
No animal-poison authority lists this plant either way.
PeopleNot checked yet
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-09-22. Where a source says nothing, we say nothing.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- A stump of brown stubs in April that puts out nothing for months. It is evergreen and was sheared to the ground in the spring tidy — comb the dead out with gloved fingers instead, and expect two years to recover from a hard cut.Cut back like a deciduous grass · disorder
- The middle of the mound goes straw-coloured and soggy while the outside stays green, on heavy ground after a mild wet spell.Dieback in a wet winter · disorder