Cymbopogon citratus Stapf

Perennial, shortly rhizomatous. Culms tufted, robust, up to 2 m tall, ca. 4 mm in diam., farinose below nodes. Leaf sheaths glabrous, greenish inside; leaf blades glaucous, 30–90 × 0.5–2 cm, both surfaces scabrid, base gradually narrowed, apex long acuminate; ligule ca. 1 mm. Spathate compound panicle large, lax, up to 50 cm, drooping, branches slender; spatheoles reddish or yellowish brown, 1.5–2 cm; racemes 1.5–2 cm; rachis internodes and pedicels 2.5–4 mm, loosely villous on margins; pedicel of homogamous pair not swollen. Sessile spikelet linear-lanceolate, 5–6 × ca. 0.7 mm; lower glume flat or slightly concave toward base, sharply 2-keeled, keels wingless, scabrid, veinless between keels; upper lemma narrow, entire and awnless, or slightly 2-lobed with ca. 0.2 mm mucro. Pedicelled spikelet 4–5 mm. Fl. and fr. summer. 2n = 40.

It is a tropical and subtropical plant. It occurs in coastal areas and up to at least 1400 m altitude. It is a good plant for borders and erosion control. They are frost tender. It needs a temperature above 10°C to grow. It needs good drainage. In Argentina it grows from sea level to 2,700 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zones 9-11. In Yunnan.

It is mostly used as a flavouring in lemon grass tea and stews. The leaves can be dried and stored for use in tea. The very young fleshy white bases of the shoots are used in Asian cooking. The outer layers are peeled off.

It is grown from portions of the clump. A spacing of about 1 m between clumps is needed. Plants can be easily grown by putting the stem end of a shoot in water until roots form then planting out. It can also be grown by seeds. Being very small they are mixed with ash or sand. They can be sown directly. They can also be put in a nursery and transplanted.