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Cenchrus

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For other uses, see Cenchrus (disambiguation).

Cenchrus
Cenchrus longispinus line drawing[4]
Cenchrus echinatus burr
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Panicoideae
Supertribe: Panicodae
Tribe: Paniceae
Subtribe: Cenchrinae
Genus: Cenchrus
L. (1753)[1]
Type species
Cenchrus echinatus[2][3]
Synonyms[5]
  • Amphochaeta Andersson (1855)
  • Beckeropsis Fig. & De Not. (1853)
  • Catatherophora Steud. (1829)
  • Cenchropsis Nash (1903)
  • Echinaria Fabr. (1759), rejected name not Desf. 1799
  • Eriochaeta Fig. & De Not. (1853)
  • Gymnotrix P.Beauv. (1812)
  • Kikuyuochloa H.Scholz (2006)
  • Lloydia Delile (1844), nom. illeg.
  • Odontelytrum Hack. (1898)
  • Penicillaria Willd. (1809)
  • Pennisetum Rich. (1805)
  • Pseudochaetochloa Hitchc. (1924)
  • Raram Adans. (1763)
  • Runcina Allamand (1770)
  • Sericura Hassk. (1842)

Cenchrus is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the world.[3][6] Its species are native to many countries in Asia, Africa, Australia, the Americas, and various oceanic islands.[7][8]

Common names include buffelgrasses, sandburs, and sand spur. Such names allude to the sharp, spine-covered burrs characterizing the inflorescences of the members of the genus.[9] Those previously classified as Pennisetum /ˌpɛnɪˈsiːtəm/[10] are known commonly as fountaingrasses (fountain grasses).[11][12][13][14]

Taxonomy

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Pennisetum

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Pennisetum
Pennisetum polystachion
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Panicoideae
Supertribe: Panicodae
Tribe: Paniceae
Subtribe: Cenchrinae
Genus: Pennisetum
Rich.[15]
Type species
Pennisetum typhoideum[16]
Synonyms[16]
  • Penicillaria Willd.
  • Gymnotrix P.Beauv.
  • Catatherophora Steud.
  • Sericura Hassk.
  • Lloydia Delile [1844, illegitimate homonym not Salisb. ex Rchb. 1830 (syn. of Gagea in Liliaceae)]
  • Beckeropsis Fig. & De Not.
  • Eriochaeta Fig. & De Not.
  • Amphochaeta Andersson
  • Kikuyuochloa H.Scholz

Pennisetum is a former genus that heavily overlaps with Cenchrus,[19] and the boundary between them has been unclear.[20] Cenchrus was derived from Pennisetum and the two are grouped in a monophyletic clade.[21] A main morphological character that has been used to distinguish them is the degree of fusion of the bristles in the inflorescence, but this is often unreliable. In 2010, researchers proposed to transfer Pennisetum into Cenchrus, along with the related genus Odontelytrum.[22] The genus is currently not accepted as separate from Cenchrus in Kew's Plants of the World Online database.[5]

Distribution

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The various species are native to Africa, Asia, Australia, and Latin America, with some of them widely naturalized in Europe and North America, as well as on various oceanic islands.[16]

Description

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They are annual or perennial grasses. Some are petite while others can produce stems up to 8 meters tall.[20] The inflorescence is a very dense, narrow panicle containing fascicles of spikelets interspersed with bristles. There are three kinds of bristle, and some species have all three, while others do not. Some bristles are coated in hairs, sometimes long, showy, plumelike hairs that inspired the genus name, the Latin penna ("feather") and seta ("bristle").[20]

Uses

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The genus includes pearl millet (P. glaucum), an important food crop. Napier grass (P. purpureum) is used for grazing livestock in Africa.

Several species are cultivated as ornamental plants, notably P. advena, P. alopecuroides, P. orientale, P. setaceum, and P. villosum. The cultivar 'Fairy Tails' is a recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[23][24]

Ecology

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Invasive Pennisetum setaceum growing on a lava flow in Hawaii

Many Pennisetum grasses are noxious weeds, including feathertop grass (P. villosum) and kikuyu grass (P. clandestinum), which is also a popular and hardy turf grass in some parts of the world.

The herbage and seeds of these grasses are food for herbivores, such as the chestnut-breasted mannikin (Lonchura castaneothorax), the caterpillar of the butterfly Melanitis phedima, and the larvae of the fly genus Delia.

The genus is a host of the pathogenic fungus Cochliobolus sativus.

Species

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Pennisetum alopecuroides
Pennisetum hohenackeri
Pennisetum orientale
Pennisetum pedicellatum
Pennisetum alopecuroides

107 species are currently accepted.[5] They include:[25][26][27][28]

Formerly included[25]

Several species are now considered better suited to other genera: Anthephora, Centotheca, Dactyloctenium, Echinaria, Echinolaena, Hackelochloa, Hilaria, Pennisetum, Phragmites, Scleria, Setaria, Trachys, Tragus, Tribolium.

  • Sand spur in front of a centimeter scale
    Sand spur in front of a centimeter scale
  • Sandspurs with 1mm markings
    Sandspurs with 1mm markings

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Genus: Cenchrus L." Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 9 March 1999. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  2. ^ lectotype designated by Green, Prop. Brit. Bot.: 193 (1929)
  3. ^ a b Tropicos, Cenchrus L.
  4. ^ NRCS. "Cenchrus longispinus". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 8 November 2024. Britton, N.L., and A. Brown, 1913, An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Provided by Kentucky Native Plant Society, New York.
  5. ^ a b c Cenchrus L. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  6. ^ Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 2: 1049–1050 in Latin
  7. ^ Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 552 蒺藜草属 ji li cao shu Cenchrus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1049. 1753.
  8. ^ Altervista Flora Italiana, genere Cenchrus includes photos and range maps for several species
  9. ^ "What is a Sandspur anyway?". shelkey.org. 20 October 2008. Archived from the original on 16 August 2009. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  10. ^ Sunset Western Garden Book. 1995. 606–07.
  11. ^ Pennisetum. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
  12. ^ Pennisetum. The Jepson eFlora 2013.
  13. ^ Pennisetum. USDA PLANTS.
  14. ^ Identified gaps for Pennisetum genepool. Archived 25 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Crop Wild Relatives. CIAT.
  15. ^ Richard, Louis Claude Marie 1805. in Persoon, Christiaan Hendrik, Synopsis plantarum,seu Enchiridium botanicum, complectens enumerationem systematicam specierum hucusque cognitarum, page 72 in Latin
  16. ^ a b c Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  17. ^ lectotype designated by Chase, Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 22: 210 (1921)
  18. ^ Tropicos, Pennisetum Rich.
  19. ^ Martel, E., et al. (2004). Chromosome evolution of Pennisetum species (Poaceae): implications of ITS phylogeny. Plant Systematics and Evolution 249(3–4), 139–49.
  20. ^ a b c Wipff, J. K. Pennisetum Rich. The Grass Manual. Flora of North America.
  21. ^ Ozias-Akins, P., et al. (2003). Molecular characterization of the genomic region linked with apomixis in Pennisetum/Cenchrus. Functional & Integrative Genomics, 3(3), 94–104.
  22. ^ Chemisquy, M. A., et al. (2010). Phylogenetic studies favour the unification of Pennisetum, Cenchrus and Odontelytrum (Poaceae): a combined nuclear, plastid and morphological analysis, and nomenclatural combinations in Cenchrus. Annals of Botany 106(1), 107–30.
  23. ^ "Pennisetum 'Fairy Tails'". RHS. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  24. ^ "AGM Plants – Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 107. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  25. ^ a b "Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families".
  26. ^ "Cenchrus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  27. ^ "GRIN Species Records of Cenchrus". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original on 8 May 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  28. ^ The Plant List search for Cenchrus
  29. ^ Henry DR Pasture plants of Southern Inland Queensland. DPI. 1995

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cenchrus.
Wikispecies has information related to Cenchrus.
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