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Perennial grass of the Poaceae family, native to East Asia — China, Japan, Korea — where it colonizes sunny slopes, edges, riverbanks, and open meadows, from sea level to mid-altitudes.
It forms large upright and arching clumps, reaching 150 to 200 cm in height depending on the cultivars. The leaves are long, narrow, ribbon-like, with a well-marked whitish central vein, bright green in season then turning golden to russet in autumn. The flowering stems rise above the foliage and bear large silky panicles, initially pink-purple at flowering, gradually turning to creamy beige and then silvery white as they dry. It is precisely this winter aspect that is remarkable here: the dry, dense, woolly panicles, sometimes curled upon themselves into compact and spherical masses, persist for a long time and constitute one of the most unique spectacles of the garden in the cold season.
In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from August to October. In cultivation under a temperate climate, it generally occurs in September-October.
It is cultivated in full sun, in any well-drained ordinary soil, without particular requirements. Hardy and undemanding, it is pruned at the end of winter before the vegetative resumption.