Molasses Grass

Melinis minutiflora, commonly known as molasses grass, is a species of grass.

It is a perennial grass native to Africa, where it occurs in disjunct populations (an arc from central Angola to Cameroon in western central africa, the areas around Ruwenzori Mountains and Mount Kenya in eastern Africa. Its seeds are dispersed by wind. Molasses grass usually grows to be thirty to sixty inches tall, and it forms mats when its long, slender stems lay on top of each other in layers up to four feet deep. Molasses grass can spread up other plants, using them as support, like a vine. It has fragrant foliage and colorful inflorescences. It blooms for short periods with differing bloom times depending on where the grass is located. Molasses grass generally flowers in the southern hemisphere between April and June and in the northern hemisphere in November.