Choose culinary lemongrass or citronella grass first. One is a kitchen stalk. The other is an oil clump. Read the Latin before you buy.
Choose culinary lemongrass or citronella grass first
| Factor | Recommended | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen stalks | Culinary lemongrass — West Indian, pale swollen bases | Do not buy citronella grass for Thai cooking |
| Citronella oil | Citronella grass — Cymbopogon nardus, a taller oil clump | Do not treat a scented geranium as this grass |
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The first choice is what you want to cut. Culinary lemongrass is the West Indian plant with pale, swollen stalks. Citronella grass is the related oil clump, often taller in the same garden. [1] Crush a leaf: kitchen lemongrass smells like lemon zest, and citronella grass smells closer to a citronella candle. [2] Read the Latin on the tag, because shop names often say only citronella or lemon grass. A scented geranium sold as a mosquito plant is a different genus. [3] East Indian lemongrass is a third culinary species we do not list; if a tag says Malabar or Cochin, treat it as kitchen lemongrass, not as citronella grass. [4]
Which Cymbopogon should I plant?
Buy culinary lemongrass for kitchen stalks, or citronella grass when you want the oil clump. They are not the same harvest.
Can I cook with citronella grass?
Do not treat it as grocery lemongrass. Buy West Indian culinary lemongrass when you want swollen cooking stalks.
Browse by kind
Match the harvest you want, then pick that kind. Culinary lemongrass is the kitchen clump. Citronella grass is the oil clump. Care for the plant you already have on How to Grow Lemongrass.
Culinary lemongrass
culinary lemongrass is West Indian lemongrass, Cymbopogon citratus. Buy this group when you want pale, swollen stalks for soup and curry. The base stays green-white, and a crushed leaf smells like lemon zest, not a candle. This is the clump grocers sell as kitchen lemongrass. It stays shorter than citronella grass in the same heat.
Citronella grass
citronella grass is Cymbopogon nardus, the oil grass sold as citronella or Ceylon citronella. Buy it as a tall fragrant clump for the lemon-candle scent in the leaves. It is not a grocery cooking stalk, and it is not a scented geranium. Commercial citronella oil comes from this species and its close relatives, not from lemon-verbena shrubs.
If you want Thai cooking stalks, buy culinary lemongrass — citronella grass is the oil plant.
FAQ
Is this East Indian or Malabar grass?
East Indian lemongrass is Cymbopogon flexuosus. We do not list that species. If you own it, treat it as culinary lemongrass, not as citronella grass.
Do you list Java citronella?
No. Java citronella is Cymbopogon winterianus, a species we do not list. The citronella grass here is Cymbopogon nardus.
Is a citronella plant a geranium?
Often the shop plant called citronella or mosquito plant is a scented geranium, Pelargonium, not this grass. Citronella grass is Cymbopogon nardus.
Related guides
References
- [1] Wisconsin Horticulture -
https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/lemongrass/ - [2] Utah State University Extension -
https://extension.usu.edu/yardandgarden/research/lemongrass-in-the-garden - [3] NC State Extension Gardener -
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/cymbopogon-citratus/ - [4] UC ANR Solano -
https://ucanr.edu/blog/under-solano-sun/article/through-garden-gate-repelling-summer-mosquitoes-citronella
This note is part of Cymbopogon Guides.
More type comparisons by plant are gathered in Types of Plants Guides.
Updated: Reviewed by Bosquelle Editors