Taxon: Pennisetum clandestinum Hochst. ex Chiov.

A declared noxious weed by USDA-APHIS.

A declared aquatic or terrestrial noxious weed and/or noxious-weed seed in these U.S. states (see state noxious weed lists), with links to state information or web documents:

AL*, CA*, FL*, MA*, NC*.

ªAquatic.

*Terrestrial.

°In seed.

Link to noxious weed information from

Common names:

• Kikuyu grass   (Source: World Econ Pl ) – English
  
• kikoejoegras   (Source: Weeds SAfr 2001 ) – Afrikaans
  
• pu di lang wei cao   (Source: F ChinaEng ) – Transcribed Chinese
  
• Kikuyugras   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – German
  
• capim-quicuio   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Portuguese
  
• kikuyu   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  
• pasto africano   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  
• tapete   (Source: Grass Util Mex ) – Spanish
  
• zacate kikuyu   (Source: Grass Util Mex ) – Spanish
  

More:

see MMPND for additional names in foreign scripts

Economic importance:

• Environmental: erosion control   (fide Pl Res SEAs 4:187. 1992)
  
• Environmental: lawn/turf   (fide Pl Res SEAs 4:187. 1992)
  
• Environmental: ornamental   (fide F Malaya; Invasive Pl Spec)
  
• Animal food: forage   (fide Grass VarUSA)
  
• Vertebrate poisons: mammals   (fide Kellerman et al.)
  
• Weed: potential seed contaminant   (fide Weed CIBA; Invasive Pl Spec)
  

More:

View toxicology references for Pennisetum clandestinum from FDA Poisonous Plant Database

Distributional range:

• AFRICA
  Northeast Tropical Africa: Eritrea; Ethiopia
  East Tropical Africa: Kenya; Tanzania; Uganda
  West-Central Tropical Africa: Burundi; Rwanda; Zaire
  South Tropical Africa: Malawi; Zimbabwe

• AFRICA
  Macaronesia: Portugal - Madeira Islands; Spain - Canary Islands
  Northern Africa: Algeria
  Southern Africa: Namibia; South Africa; Swaziland
  Western Indian Ocean: Mauritius; Reunion
• ASIA-TEMPERATE
  Western Asia: Cyprus; Israel; Jordan
  China: China - Yunnan
  Eastern Asia: Taiwan
• ASIA-TROPICAL
  Indian Subcontinent: Bhutan; India
• AUSTRALASIA
  Australia: Australia
  New Zealand: New Zealand
• EUROPE
  Southeastern Europe: Greece - Crete
• NORTHERN AMERICA
  Southwestern U.S.A.: United States - Arizona, California
  Northern Mexico: Mexico - Chihuahua, Durango, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi
  Southern Mexico: Mexico - Chiapas, Colima, Federal District, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan, Morelos, Puebla, Queretaro, Tlaxcala, Veracruz
• PACIFIC
  North-Central Pacific: United States - Hawaii
  South-Central Pacific: French Polynesia
• SOUTHERN AMERICA
  Caribbean: Puerto Rico; Virgin Islands (U.S.) - St. John
  Mesoamerica: Costa Rica; Guatemala; Nicaragua; Panama
  Northern South America: Venezuela
  Brazil: Brazil
  Western South America: Bolivia; Colombia; Ecuador - Galapagos Islands; Peru
  Southern South America: Argentina; Chile - Easter Island; Paraguay; Uruguay

• AFRICA
  Southern Africa: South Africa
• AUSTRALASIA
  Australia: Australia
  New Zealand: New Zealand
• SOUTHERN AMERICA
  Mesoamerica: Costa Rica
  Northern South America: Venezuela

References:

• 't Mannetje, L. & R. M. Jones, eds. 1992. Forages. P. 4:187 in: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA).
• Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. et al. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78:1-581.
• Alderson, J. & W. C. Sharp. 1995. Grass varieties in the United States, U.S.D.A. Agric. Handb. 170, rev. ed.
• Allan, H. H. B. et al. 1961–. Flora of New Zealand.
• Ataroff, M. & M. E. Naranjo. 2009. Interception of water by pastures of Pennisetum clandestinum Hochst. ex Chiov. and Melinis minutiflora Beauv. Agric. Forest Meteor. 149:1616–1620.
• Bor, N. L. 1960. The grasses of Burma, Ceylon, India, and Pakistan.
• CIBA-GEIGY, Basel, Switzerland. Documenta CIBA-GEIGY (Grass weeds 1. 1980, 2. 1981; Monocot weeds 3. 1982; Dicot weeds 1. 1988)
• Catasús Guerra, L. J. 2002. Las gramíneas (Poaceae) de Cuba, II. Cavanillesia Altera 3:1–163.
• 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. Ann. Bot. (Oxford) 106:127. [= Cenchrus clandestinus (Hochst. ex Chiov.) Morrone].
• Conant, P. et al. 1997. Appendix. Selected plant species interfering with resource management goals in North American natural areas. Pp. 255–267 in: Luken, J. O. & J. W. Thieret, eds., Assessment and management of plant invasions.
• Dassanayake, M. D. & F. R. Fosberg, eds. 1980–. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon.
• Davidse, G. et al., eds. 1994. Flora mesoamericana.
• Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen.
• Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource). [= Kikuyuochloa clandestina (Chiov.) H. Scholz].
• Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960–. Flora zambesiaca.
• FNA Editorial Committee. 1993–. Flora of North America.
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
• Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
• Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14.
• Grierson, A. J. C. & D. J. Long. 1984–. Flora of Bhutan including a record of plants from Sikkim.
• Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989–. Flora of Ethiopia. (and Eritrea. 2000)
• Henderson, L. 2001. Alien weeds and invasive plants: a complete guide to declared weeds and invaders in South Africa. Plant Protection Research Institute, Handbook 12.
• Herrera-Arrieta, Y. 2001. Las Gramíneus de Durango.
• Hnatiuk, R. J. 1990. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11.
• Hokche, O. et al. 2008. Nuevo catálogo de la flora vascular de Venezola.
• Holm, L. et al. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds.
• Holttum, R. E. et al. 1953–1971. A revised flora of Malaya.
• Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry. Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER): plant threats to Pacific ecosystems (on-line resource).
• Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares. [= Cenchrus clandestinus (Hochst. ex Chiov.) Morrone].
• Kartesz, J. T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland.
• Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953–1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2.
• Kellerman, T. S. et al. 1988. Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa.
• Lazarides, M. & B. Hince. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia.
• Lazarides, M. 1980. The tropical grasses of Southeast Asia.
• Liogier, H. A. & L. F. Martorell. 2000. Flora of Puerto Rico and adjacent islands: a systematic synopsis, ed. 2.
• Marais, J. P. 2001. Factors affecting the nutritive value of kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) - A review. Trop. Grasslands 35:65–84.
• Mejía-Saulés, M. T. & P. Dávila A. 1992. Gramíneas Útiles de México. Cuad. Inst. Biol. 16.
• Meyer, J. Y. 2004. Threat of invasive alien plants to native flora and forest vegetation of eastern Polynesia. Pacific Sci. 58:357–375.
• Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
• Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants.
• Tovar, Ó. 1993. Las gramíneas (Poaceae) del Perú. Ruizia 13:406–407.
• Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952–. Flora of tropical East Africa.
• Vibrans, H., ed. Malezas de México (on-line resource).
• Villaseñor, J. L. & F. J. Espinoza-Garcia. 2004. The alien flowering plants of Mexico. Diversity & Distrib. 10:113–123.
• Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds.
• Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994–. Flora of China (English edition).
• Zuloaga, F. O. et al. 1994. Catalogo de la familia Poaceae en la Republica Argentina. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 47.
• Zuloaga, F. O. et al. 2003. Catalogue of New World grasses (Poaceae): III. Subfamilies Panicoideae, Aristidoideae, Arundinoideae, and Danthonioideae. Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 46:528.
• van der Gritten, P. et al. 1992. Utilisation of kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) pastures and dairy production in a high altitude region of Costa Rica. Trop. Grasslands 26:255–262.

More:

Search AGRICOLA article citation database for citations referencing Pennisetum clandestinum.

Search NCBI's Entrez search engine for PubMed citations referencing Pennisetum clandestinum.

Search Biodiversity Heritage Library for historical publications referencing Pennisetum clandestinum.

Synonyms:

• (≡) Cenchrus clandestinus (Hochst. ex Chiov.) Morrone
  
• (≡) Kikuyuochloa clandestina (Hochst. ex Chiov.) H. Scholz
  

Check other web resources for Pennisetum clandestinum Hochst. ex Chiov.:

• PLANTS: USDA-NRCS Database of Plants of the United States and its Territories
• BONAP: North American Plant Atlas of the Biota of North America Program
• Flora del Conosur: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares del Conosur
• Flora of China: Online version from Harvard University
• AVH: Australia's Virtual Herbarium
• SIBIS: South African National Biodiversity Institute's (SANBI) Integrated Biodiversity System
• On-line Flora of Zimbabwe
• TROPICOS: Nomenclatural and Specimen Database of the Missouri Botanical Garden
• CNWG: Catalogue of New World Grasses Searchable Database
• Grass Manual on the Web: Manual of Grasses for North America North of Mexico
• World Grass Species-Descriptions: Morphological species description from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• AusGrass2: Australian grass data from Bryan K. Simon’s on-line database
• Mansfeld: Mansfeld's World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops
• ePIC: Electronic Plant Information Centre of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• AGRICOLA: Article Citation Database or NAL Catalog of USDA's National Agricultural Library
• Entrez: NCBI's search engine for PubMed citations, GenBank sequences, etc.

Images:

• Disseminule drawings: U.S. National Seed Herbarium drawing
• Embryo drawing: U.S. National Seed Herbarium drawing
• Spikelets and/or florets: U.S. National Seed Herbarium image

More:

• Check PlantSystematics.org for additional images
• Images Note: Be advised that their identity may be inaccurate. Proper identification of a plant may require specialized taxonomic knowledge or comparison with properly documented herbarium material.

Abbreviations & symbols in GRIN Taxonomy

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