Cenchrus ciliaris
Click on each image to see a larger version and details of the record
Image 1
Spikes
05 Apr 2009
Image 2
Habit
05 Apr 2009
Image 3
Close-up of spike
21 Mar 2008
Image 4
Spike
21 Mar 2008
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Full name: | Cenchrus ciliaris L. |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | Blou buffelsgras, Bloubuffelgras, Buffelsgras |
| English common name(s): | Foxtail buffalo grass, Blue buffalo grass, Buffalo grass, African foxtail |
| Synonym(s): | Cenchrus ciliaris L. var. anachoreticum Chiov. Cenchrus ciliaris L. var. leptostachys (Leeke) Maire & Weiller Cenchrus ciliaris L. var. nubicus Fig. & De Not. Cenchrus ciliaris L. var. pallens (Leeke) Maire & Weiller Cenchrus longifolius Hochst. ex Steud. Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link var. pallens Leeke fide Fl. Trop. E. Africa Pennisetum oxyphyllum Peter Pennisetum polycladum Chiov. fide Fl. Trop. E. Africa Pennisetum rangei Mez |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | Perennial, often forming mats or tussocks; culms 10–150 cm, ascending, wiry or sometimes almost woody. Leaf-blades 3–25 cm long, 2–13 mm wide. Panicle cylindrical to ovoid, 2–14 cm long, 10–26 mm wide, grey, purple or straw-coloured, the rhachis angular and puberulous; involucre elongate, 6–16 mm long; inner bristles much exceeding the spikelets, one of them longer and stouter than the rest, at least the longest somewhat flattened at the base, connate only at the base to form a disc 0.5–1.5 mm in diameter (or sometimes connate for up to 0.5 mm above the disc's rim), sparsely or densely ciliate below, grooved on the face or not, filiform above, flexuous, often wavy, antrorsely scaberulous; outer bristles filiform. Spikelets 1–4 per burr, 2–5.5 mm long, acutely lanceolate; glumes distinct, acute, the lower from 0.25–0.5, the upper from 0.5 to as long as the spikelet. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora of Tropical East Africa) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer) iNaturalist (Namibia) iNaturalist (southern Africa) Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie Tree Atlas of Namibia |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
