Sporobolus

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Sporobolus
Starr 090205-2349 Sporobolus virginicus.jpg
Sporobolus virginicus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Chloridoideae
Tribe: Zoysieae
Subtribe: Sporobolinae
Genus: Sporobolus
R.Br. [1]
Type species
Sporobolus indicus
Synonyms [4]
  • AgrosticulaRaddi
  • BaucheaE. Fourn.
  • BennetiaRaf.
  • CryptostachysSteud.
  • DiachyriumGriseb.
  • HeleochloaHost ex Roem.
  • SpermachitonLlanos
  • SpermatochitonPilg., alternate spelling
  • ThellungiaStapf
  • TriachyrumHochst.

Sporobolus is a nearly cosmopolitan genus of plants in the grass family. [5] [3] [6] [7] [8] The name Sporobolus means "seed-thrower", and is derived from Ancient Greek word σπόρος (spóros), meaning "seed", and the root of βάλλειν (bállein) "to throw", referring to the dispersion of seeds. [9] Members of the genus are usually called dropseeds [10] or sacaton grasses. They are typical prairie and savanna plants, occurring in other types of open habitat in warmer climates. At least one species ( S. caespitosus from Saint Helena) is threatened with extinction, and another ( S. durus from Ascension Island) is extinct.

Uses

While some dropseeds, such as prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis), make nice gardening plants, [11] they are generally considered[ who? ] to make inferior pastures,[ citation needed ] but seeds of at least some species are edible and nutritious; they were used as food, for example, by the Chiricahua Apaches. Other species are reported to be used as famine foods, such as Sporobolus indicus in parts of the Oromia Region of Ethiopia, where it is known as muriy in Oromiffa. [12]

Known as popote de cambray, Sporobolus grasses are used in popotillo art or straw mosaics, a Mexican folk art with pre-Columbian origins. [13]

The 1889 book The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that Sporobolus actinocladus is a "Perennial; seeds in October and November. A much esteemed pasture grass of the back country, common on rich loamy soil; stock of all kinds are very fond of it." [14]

Ecology

Caterpillars of the small moth Bucculatrix sporobolella have only been found on alkali sacaton (Sporobolus airoides). The Laysan dropseed noctuid moth (Hypena laysanensis) on Laysan Island apparently became extinct with the local eradication of S. virginicus by feral rabbits. Seed-eating birds including American sparrows (genus Aimophila ) feed on sacaton seeds. S. wrightii is a critical resource for Botteri's sparrow (Aimophila botterii) which at one time was extirpated from Arizona.

Selected species

About 160 species are placed in the genus, including: [15] [4]

This list does not include numerous species moved from other genera to Sporobolus after a 2014 taxonomic revision, including species in Crypsis , Eragrostis , Thellungia , Calamovilfa , and Spartina . [16]

Numerous species have been moved from Sporobolus to other genera: Agrostis , Arctagrostis , Eragrostis , Mosdenia , Muhlenbergia , Poa , Sacciolepis , Thysanolaena , and Urochondra . [4]

Giant parramatta grass (Sporobolus fertilis) Sporobolus fertilis nezuminoo.jpg
Giant parramatta grass (Sporobolus fertilis)
Madagascar dropseed (Sporobolus pyramidatus) Starr 040711-0055 Sporobolus pyramidatus.jpg
Madagascar dropseed (Sporobolus pyramidatus)

Related Research Articles

<i>Eragrostis</i> Genus of grasses

Eragrostis is a large and widespread genus of plants in the grass family, found in many countries on all inhabited continents and many islands.

<i>Stipa</i> Genus of grasses

Stipa is a genus of around 300 large perennial hermaphroditic grasses collectively known as feather grass, needle grass, and spear grass. They are placed in the subfamily Pooideae and the tribe Stipeae, which also contains many species formerly assigned to Stipa, which have since been reclassified into new genera.

<i>Aira</i> Genus of grasses

Aira is a genus of Old World plants in the grass family, native to western and southern Europe, central and southwest Asia, plus Africa.

<i>Bouteloua</i> Genus of grasses

Bouteloua is a genus of plants in the grass family. Members of the genus are commonly known as grama grass.

<i>Sporobolus heterolepis</i> Species of flowering plant

Sporobolus heterolepis, commonly known as prairie dropseed, is a species of prairie grass native to the tallgrass and mixed grass prairies of central North America from Texas to southern Canada. It is also found further east, to the Atlantic coast of the United States and Canada, but is much less common beyond the Great Plains and is restricted to specialized habitats. It is found in 27 states and four Canadian provinces.

<i>Lippia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Lippia is a genus of flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. It was named after Augustin Lippi, (1678-1705), a French naturalist and botanist. He was killed in Abyssinia. The genus contains roughly 200 species of tropical shrubs that are found around the world. Plants are fragrant due to their essential oils, which vary between species but may include estragole, carvacrol, linalool, or limonene. The leaves of certain species, such as L. graveolens, can be used as a culinary herb similar to oregano.

<i>Muhlenbergia</i> Genus of plants

Muhlenbergia is a genus of plants in the grass family.

<i>Crypsis</i> (genus) Genus of grasses

Crypsis is a genus of African and Eurasian plants in the grass family, sometimes referred to as pricklegrass. These are annual grasses with short leaves. A few species are invasive weeds outside their native ranges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tussock grass</span> Species of grass

Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial plants, most species live more than one season. Tussock grasses are often found as forage in pastures and ornamental grasses in gardens.

<i>Sporobolus virginicus</i> Species of plant

Sporobolus virginicus, known by numerous common names including seashore dropseed, marine couch, sand couch, salt couch grass, saltwater couch, coastal rat-tail grass, and nioaka, is a species of grass with a wide distribution.

Desmostachya is a genus of grass in the family Poaceae. It is native to Africa and Asia.

<i>Leptochloa</i> Genus of grasses

Leptochloa is a widespread genus of Asian, African, Australian, and American plants in the grass family.

<i>Acmispon</i> Genus of legumes

Acmispon is a genus of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae (legumes), native to North America and the west coast of Chile in South America. It includes several species of American bird's-foot trefoils and deervetches formerly contained in the globally distributed genus Lotus. The former genus Syrmatium is included in Acmispon. The Jepson eFlora accepts only Acmispon.

<i>Lespedeza leptostachya</i> Species of plant

Lespedeza leptostachya is a rare species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names prairie lespedeza and prairie bush-clover. It occurs in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. The flowers are creamy-white to purplish and arranged into a narrow terminal spikes.

<i>Hilaria mutica</i> Grass species

Hilaria mutica, synonym Pleuraphis mutica, is a species of grass known by the common name tobosa, or tobosa grass. It is native to Northern Mexico, and the Southwestern United States, in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Sporobolus wrightii is a species of grass known by the common names big sacaton and giant sacaton. It is native to the western United States and northern and central Mexico.

References

  1. "Genus Sporobolus R. Br". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 2011-02-28.
  2. lectotype designated by L.K.G. Pfeiffer, Nom. Bot. 2:1274 (1874)
  3. 1 2 "Sporobolus R. Br.". Tropicos . Missouri Botanical Garden.
  4. 1 2 3 "Sporobolus". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  5. Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum[Forerunner of the Flora of New Holland and the Island of Van Diemen, showing the characteristics of its plants] (in Latin). Vol. 1. London: Richard Taylor. pp.  169-170. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.3678.
  6. Wu, Zhen-lan; Phillips, Sylvia M. "Sporobolus". Flora of China. Vol. 22 via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  7. "Genere Sporobolus". Altervista Flora Italiana. Includes photos and distribution maps for several species.
  8. "Sporobolus". County-level distribution maps from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
  9. Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology. Vol. IV R-Z. Taylor & Francis US. p.  2542. ISBN   978-0-8493-2678-3.
  10. "Sporobolus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System . Retrieved 2011-02-28.
  11. "Sporobolus heterolepis". Plant Finder. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  12. Lemessa, Dechassa (November 1999). "Prosperity Fades: Jimma and Illubabor Zones of Oromiya Region" (Field Report). UN Emergency Unit for Ethiopia. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  13. "Papel Picado, Papel Amate, and Popotillo". Festival of Mexico. Archived from the original on 2009-12-25. Retrieved 2010-01-09.
  14. J. H. Maiden (1889). The useful native plants of Australia (including Tasmania). Sydney: Turner and Henderson. p.  108. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.12190.
  15. Wu, Zhen-lan; Sylvia M., Phillips. "Sporobolus". Flora of China. Vol. 22 via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  16. Peterson, Paul M.; Romaschenko, Konstantin; Herrera Arrieta, Y.; Saarela, J. M. (2014). "A molecular phylogeny and new subgeneric classification of Sporobolus (Poaceae: Chloridoideae: Sporobolinae)". Taxon . 63 (6): 1212–1243. doi:10.12705/636.19.