Which is the real Miscanthus 'Malepartus'...?

18 years ago

One plant I bought last year as 'Malepartus' has thinner leaves, but not as thin as 'Gracillimus'. It's upright, seems similar to 'Graziella'. It has two dozen 4.5 to 5' whitish inflorescences (kinda short) and now has ONE 6' somewhat reddish inflorescence. Plant is still very green. My plant does not get full sun in September due to shadows because of the lower arc of the sun's daily path.

Some plants called 'Malepartus' are at the store this year (and I've seen such type of plants at the store in the past). They have thicker 1/2 inch leaves and the dark reddish inflorescences are on tall burgundy tinted stems. The plants are much courser than 'Gracillimus'. Seem very upright, some of the grass blades have a slight burgundy tint.

Rick Darke says in one book that 'Malepartus' is similar to 'Graziella' but wider leaves with silver inflourescences.

Then in another book he says that 'Malepartus' is similar to 'Gracillimus' with inflorescences that open red.

I'm confused. The courser plant with wider leaves seems to shoot up tall red inflorescences on a shorter, courser plant. The plant I have seems to have a neater appearance but the inflorescences are less dramatic.

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Comments (3)

donn_
18 years ago
Interesting question. There seems to be a wide variety of descriptions for 'Malepartus.' Bluestem says the foliage is 5/8" wide, which is certainly much wider than most 'Gracillimus,' although there is also a very wide range of descriptions for 'Gracillimus.'

The link below is to a PDF file reporting on a RHS trial of many cultivars of M.s., which was closely supported by Ernst Pagels, the creator of both 'Graziella' and 'Malepartus.' 'Malepartus' is described as medium width foliage, while 'Gracillimus' and 'Graziella' are described as narrow.

I have a couple of 1-year old 'Malepartus' in gallon pots. Their foliage is about 3/8" wide, and their blooms are reddish, and held on purple stems at least 2' above the foliage. I have a younger 'Graziella' in a 4" pot, and it's foliage is much more like 'Gracillimus,' very very narrow by comparison.

Here is a link that might be useful: RHS Miscanthus Trials
noki
Original Author
18 years ago
Here is a new plant I bought a few weeks ago taged 'Malepartus'. The plant is not very fresh looking, but you can see the burgundy purple stems. up to 7/16" wide leaves.

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Here is a plant I got last year taged 'Malepartus' also. A little narrower leaves, blooms between 4 to 6 feet high, some a bit reddish. A nice tidy plant so far.

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willowmist
18 years ago
Malepartus is my favorite grass. I've been growing it in the New Hampshire Seacoast area (Zone 5b) since 1999, and I also have Graziella and Gracillimus. Darke's descriptions of Malepartus have mystified me in the past as well. Perhaps it performs differently in different climates. Here it reliably opens quite red, is definitely much wider than either Graziella or Gracillimus, and would never be called "similar" to either of them. The only time I've seen narrow-leafed Malepartus is when it's struggling, usually for lack of heat. That shade you mention could be hurting them in terms of their full potential. The plants I put in the ground in 1999 as 3" plugs are now 7-8' tall in bloom, and very elegant. The red-stemmed one you just bought could be Malepartus, but it could also be Graziella. The stems on both redden in the fall.

Your first photo could be Malepartus, but it's very "leggy" if so. (Needs a bigger pot, or to be in the ground.) The second photo looks more like Graziella.