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Chigo Zasa

Pleioblastus variegatus (plee-oh-BLASS-tuss vay-ree-eh-GAY-tuss)

Family: Poaceae Non-native Groundcover

green-An evergreen groundcover plant with green-white striped leaves. It can be very invasive, spreading by rhizomes. It can be very difficult to eradicate once established. Its foliage makes this a good container plant while controlling the spread of unwanted growth. This plant can be kept at a shorter height by cutting the foliage to ground level in the spring, prior to the plant sending up new shoots. This procedure will also assist the plant in looking its best, as cutting to the ground will encourage new and healthy growth to emerge.

Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox ↗ NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, 28 attributes.

How it fits the guild

Guild layer 5 - Groundcover
See companions & conflicts ↓

Companions & Conflicts

Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.

No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.

Also noted by NC State

Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.

Fills a similar niche Lantana camara Bandito™ Group Physostegia virginiana Tradescantia fluminensis

Full plant profile

Growing Conditions
Plant type
Ground Cover; Ornamental Grasses and Sedges; Perennial
USDA zones
5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b
Light
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Clay; Loam (Silt); Sand
Soil drainage
Occasionally Wet
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Growth rate
Rapid
Canopy layer
5 - Groundcover
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Horizontal; Spreading
Leaf color
White
Leaf value
Showy
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Showy green-white variegated leaves
Flower detail
Insignificant
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Non-native
Origin
East Asia - Japan
Landscape Use
Landscape location
Container; Meadow; Naturalized Area; Patio; Slope/Bank; Woodland
Landscape theme
Rock Garden
Design feature
Border; Hedge; Mass Planting; Small groups
Garden tags
#container plant #aggressive #weedy
Problems & Resistance
Problems
Weedy
Propagation
Division

Planted at Hunnicutt

Nobody’s planted this one yet.