Sporobolus | |
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Sporobolus virginicus | |
Scientific classification | |
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] | |
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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.
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]
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.
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]
Eragrostis is a large and widespread genus of plants in the grass family, found in many countries on all inhabited continents and many islands.
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.
Aira is a genus of Old World plants in the grass family, native to western and southern Europe, central and southwest Asia, plus Africa.
Bouteloua is a genus of plants in the grass family. Members of the genus are commonly known as grama grass.
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.
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.
Muhlenbergia is a genus of plants in the grass family.
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.
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.
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.
Leptochloa is a widespread genus of Asian, African, Australian, and American plants in the grass family.
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.
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.
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.