Cannomois virgata inflorescences

The main culms of Cannomois virgata are long, stout and erect or arching, even drooping somewhat under the weight they carry at and near their tips. Flowering happens from mid-spring to midsummer. This plant was seen in the Gifberg in October.

Apart from the brown inflorescence the culms have needle-like tufts of long, green, sterile, secondary culms branching from the nodes under the sheaths.

The clump formed by a mature plant may be up to 6 m in diameter at its base.

The entire Cannomois genus of about seven species is endemic to the Western and Eastern Cape (Dorrat-Haaksma and Linder, 2000; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://pza.sanbi.org).