Eragrostis pilosa | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Genus: | Eragrostis |
Species: | E. pilosa |
Binomial name | |
Eragrostis pilosa | |
Synonyms | |
Eragrostis multicaulis Contents |
Eragrostis pilosa is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is native to Eurasia and Africa. [1] It may [1] [2] or may not [3] [4] be native to North America. It is widely introduced, and it is a common weed in many areas.
Common names include Indian lovegrass, [5] Jersey love-grass, [6] hairy love grass, small tufted lovegrass, and soft lovegrass.
This species is an annual grass growing up to 70 centimeters tall. The narrow leaves are up to 20 centimeters long. Both stem and foliage usually have scattered glandular pits; when the species is divided into varieties, the abundance of the pits helps to distinguish them. [4] The ligule is a short fringe of hairs. The inflorescence is an open panicle with branches each up to 10 centimeters long. The lowest branches are whorled about the stem. The narrow, grayish [4] to purple-green [3] spikelets are up to a centimeter long and each can contain up to 10 [3] to 17 florets. [4]
This grass can be found in a variety of habitat types, easily taking hold in disturbed areas such as roadsides and crop fields. It grows well in moist and wet habitat, including swamps. It is spread by seed, which is transported by water and wind, in soil and hay, and on machinery and trains. [3] It likely has a long-lasting soil seed bank. [7]
The grass has some value as a forage and fodder. [8] [9] The grain is edible by humans. [8]
This grass is also of interest in agriculture because it is the main wild ancestor of teff (Eragrostis tef), a staple cereal in some regions and of particular importance in Ethiopia. The close connection between the two grasses is supported by genetic evidence. They are also very similar in morphology, sometimes indistinguishable. The most consistent difference is that E. pilosa undergoes spikelet shattering, the disintegration of the seedhead that is the first step in seed dispersal. Teff heads do not shatter, making the plant easier to manage as an agricultural crop. E. pilosa has been occasionally harvested as a grain in Ethiopia, but only in times of desperation. [10]
The majority of Eragrostis species are polyploid, with more than two sets of chromosomes; E. pilosa is an allotetraploid, containing the genes of other species, suggesting it is of hybrid origin. Teff is also allotetraploid. Fertile hybrids between the two have been bred. [10]
This grass can be infested with the parasitic plant purple witchweed (Striga hermonthica). [11]
Eleusine coracana, or finger millet is an annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and semiarid areas in Africa and Asia. It is a tetraploid and self-pollinating species probably evolved from its wild relative Eleusine africana.
Teff, also known as Eragrostis tef, Williams lovegrass, or annual bunch grass, is an annual grass, a species of lovegrass native to the Horn of Africa, notably to both Eritrea and Ethiopia. It is cultivated for its edible seeds, also known as teff. Teff was one of the earliest plants domesticated. It is one of the most important staple crops in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Eragrostis is a large and widespread genus of plants in the grass family, found in many countries on all inhabited continents and many islands.
Cynodon is a genus of plants in the grass family. It is native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Old World, as well as being cultivated and naturalized in the New World and on many oceanic islands.
Hordeum pusillum, also known as little barley, is an annual grass native to most of the United States and southwestern Canada. It arrived via multiple long-distance dispersals of a southern South American species of Hordeum about one million years ago. Its closest relatives are therefore not the other North American taxa like meadow barley or foxtail barley, but rather Hordeum species of the pampas of central Argentina and Uruguay. It is less closely related to the Old World domesticated barley, from which it diverged about 12 million years ago. It is diploid.
Eragrostis cilianensis is a species of grass known by several common names, including stinkgrass, candy grass, and gray lovegrass.
Eragrostis hypnoides is a species of grass known by the common name teal lovegrass. It is native to the Americas from Canada to Argentina. It is found in moist areas near water in substrates of sand or mud.
Eragrostis pectinacea is a species of grass known by the common name tufted lovegrass. This plant is native to the Americas from Canada to Argentina. It is widespread, growing in most open spaces at varying elevations and habitats, including in disturbed areas and roadsides.
Striga hermonthica, commonly known as purple witchweed or giant witchweed, is a hemiparasitic plant that belongs to the family Orobanchaceae. It is devastating to major crops such as sorghum and rice. In sub-Saharan Africa, apart from sorghum and rice, it also infests maize, pearl millet, and sugar cane.
Setaria verticillata is a species of grass known by the common names hooked bristlegrass, rough bristle-grass and bristly foxtail. It is native to Europe, but it is known on most continents as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. It is a hardy bunchgrass which grows in many types of urban, cultivated, and disturbed habitat. It is a weed of many types of agricultural crops, growing in vineyards and fields. Herbicide-resistant strains have been noted.
Eragrostis curvula is a species of grass known by the common name weeping lovegrass. Other common names include Boer lovegrass, curved lovegrass, Catalina lovegrass, and African lovegrass.
Eragrostis intermedia is a species of grass known by the common name plains lovegrass. It is native to North and Central America, where it is distributed from the southeastern and southwestern United States south to Costa Rica. Its range may extend to South America.
Eragrostis lehmanniana is a species of grass known by the common name Lehmann lovegrass. It is native to southern Africa. It is present elsewhere as an introduced species. It is well known as an invasive weed in some areas, such as Arizona in the United States.
Setaria parviflora is a species of grass known by the common names marsh bristlegrass, knotroot bristle-grass, bristly foxtail and yellow bristlegrass. It is native to North America, including Mexico and the United States from California to the East Coast, Central America and the West Indies, and South America.
Dichanthium annulatum is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is commonly used as a forage for livestock.
Zea diploperennis, the diploperennial teosinte, is a species of grass in the genus Zea and a teosinte. It is perennial.
Urochloa ramosa, the browntop millet or Dixie signalgrass, is an annual, millet grass belonging to the grass family (Poaceae). The native range of Urochloa ramosa is from Africa to tropical and subtropical Asia.
Eragrostis ciliaris, the gophertail lovegrass, is a species of grass. It is native to the Old World Tropics; nearly all of Africa, Madagascar, other Indian Ocean islands, the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian Subcontinent, Myanmar, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines and a number of Pacific islands, and has been introduced to the New World Tropics and Subtropics, from the southern United States to Argentina, the Caribbean, and other Pacific islands. Its seeds are edible and nutritious, but quite small and difficult to harvest and handle, so it is usually regarded as a famine food.