Gynerium

GYNERIUM s. (greek gune, pistil; erion, wool; woolly pistil) Bot. Genus of arundinaceae⁽¹⁾ in the family gramineae, whose main species is the pampas grass (gynerium argenteum⁽²⁾) or Uruguayan pampas grass, a big herbaceous perennial plant native to the plains of South America: This plant flowers at the end of summer or at the beginning of fall and produces a lot of stems, sometimes as many as 40 or 50, which can be from 4.50 m (14.8 ft) to 5 m (16.4 ft)high. Each of these stems ends in a thick panicles of flowers from 30 cm (11.8 inches) to 60 cm (23.6 inches) Long, similar to that of the common reed. This grass, first introduced in our gardens thanks to seeds sent from Buenos Aires to England (1843), is now very common.
 
Extract from the Trousset encyclopedia, 1886 – 1891.
 
1) Pampas grass is now listed under the genus Cortaderia
2) Binomial name is now Cortaderia selloana