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I’ve been wondering what this grass was called. It is very striking: tall, green all year round, big wispy flowers, sharp edges to the leaves. Pampas grass (Latin: cortaderia selloana; Irish: féar pampaí) is, as you may guess from the name, a grass indigenous to the Pampas in southern South America. It was introduced here by English colonizers. You can still purchase it for your garden from Irish plant nurseries, despite this grass having a tendency to escape containment and spread on its own, competing with other plants and in many cases preventing them from flourishing. It’s common to see it in people’s gardens, but it is also present all along the parts of An Chanáil Mhór, the Grand Canal, which I often walk along.
This grass is quite hard–almost brittle–and so when the wind moves it you get a sound that is a bit more percussive than a rustle. Of course you’ll also hear the ever-present wind and automobiles and at one point a small dog whose paws made audible taps on the sidewalk.
Sound
Image
Figure 1: The tall pampas grass behind the fence. The recorder is set at the bottom of the fence, pointing up at the leaves.
Details
- Location
- Ascaill an Duifriain, Paróiste San Caitríona, Baile Átha Cliath 8
- Date
- Time
- 15:49-15:56
- Duration
- 6'42"
- Recorder
- Sony PCM-M10
- Microphones
- Built-in mics on the recorder
- Channels
- 2, Stereo
- Other notes
- Light high pass filtering to remove some low end rumble from the wind.