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Taxon: Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.

Genus: Pennisetum
Family: Poaceae (alt. Gramineae) subfamily: Panicoideae tribe: Paniceae.
Nomen number: 27208
Place of publication: Beskr. Guin. pl. 44. 1827
Comment: authorship verified from original literature, where the name and diagnosis together (Vienna ICBN Art. 46, Ex. 14) and the description are all ascribed to Schumacher
Name verified on: 04-Mar-2009 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 04-Mar-2009
Species priority site is: Southern Regional PI Station (S9).
Accessions: 5 in National Plant Germplasm System.
  • all available ) NPGS accessions ) or .
  • all available ) NPGS accessions by country.


SPECIES RESTRICTED BECAUSE STATE NOXIOUS WEED
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:
PR*.
ªAquatic. *Terrestrial. °In seed.
Link to noxious weed information from Invaders Database System

Common names:

  • elephant grass   (Source: World Econ Pl ) – English
  • Merker grass   (Source: Websters Dict ) – English
  • Napier grass   (Source: World Econ Pl ) – English
  • olifantsgras   (Source: Weeds SAfr 2001 ) – Afrikaans
  • napier   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – French
  • Elefantengras   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – German
  • capim-elefante   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Portuguese
  • capim-napiê   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  • capim-napier-elefante   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  • hierba elefante   (Source: Grass Cuba II ) – Spanish
  • pasto elefante   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
More:

Economic importance:

  • Environmental: erosion control; ornamental   (fide Grass US; F NAmer)
  • Animal food: fodder; forage   (fide Pl Res SEAs 4:191. 1992)
  • Gene sources: secondary genetic relative of pearl millet   (fide Rao & de Wet 1999)
  • Weed: also potential seed contaminant   (fide Weed CIBA; Invasive Pl Spec)

Distributional range:

      Native:
  • AFRICA
    Northeast Tropical Africa: Ethiopia [s.]
    East Tropical Africa: Kenya; Tanzania; Uganda
    West-Central Tropical Africa: Cameroon
    West Tropical Africa: Cote D'Ivoire; Ghana; Guinea; Liberia; Nigeria; Sierra Leone; Togo
    South Tropical Africa: Angola; Malawi; Mozambique; Zambia; Zimbabwe

      Naturalized: (links to other web resources are provided for some distributions)
  • naturalized in s. Africa, tropical Asia, Australia, s. United States & Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, South America, West Indies, Macaronesia, Micronesia, & Galapagos

References:

  • 't Mannetje, L. & R. M. Jones, eds. 1992. Forages. Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). (Pl Res SEAs) 4:191.
  • Burkill, H. M. 1985–2004. The useful plants of west tropical Africa. (Use Pl WT Afr)
  • CIBA-GEIGY, Basel, Switzerland. Documenta CIBA-GEIGY (Grass weeds 1. 1980, 2. 1981; Monocot weeds 3. 1982; Dicot weeds 1. 1988) (Weed CIBA)
  • Catasús Guerra, L. J. Cavanillesia Altera
  • Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960–. Flora zambesiaca. (F Zamb)
  • FNA Editorial Committee. 1993–. Flora of North America. (F NAmer)
  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop - on-line resource. (Ecocrop)
  • Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58. (Grass SAfr)
  • Görts-van Rijn, A. R. A., ed. 1986–. Flora of the Guianas. (F Guianas)
  • Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. [re. Brazilian common names].
  • Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989–. Flora of Ethiopia. (and Eritrea. 2000) (F Ethiop)
  • 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. (Weeds SAfr 2001)
  • Holm, L. et al. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. (Atlas WWeed)
  • Kartesz, J. T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. (L US Can ed2)
  • Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953–1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2. (F WT Afr)
  • Malezasdemexico. Malezas de México - on-line resource. (Malezas Mex)
  • Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. (Food Feed Crops US)
  • Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) - on-line resource. (Pl Names)
  • Rao, S. A. & J. M. J. de Wet. 1999. Chapter 2. Taxonomy and evolution. IN Khairwal, I. S. et al. (eds.) Pearl millet breeding. 31–47. [in this review it is recognized as part of secondary gene pool of pearl millet].
  • Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. (Dict Rehm)
  • Tovar, Ó. 1993. Las Gramíneas (Poaceae) del Perú. Ruizia 13:408.
  • Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952–. Flora of tropical East Africa. (F TE Afr)
  • Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds. (Invasive Pl Spec)
  • Westphal, E. & P. C. M. Jansen, eds. 1989. A selection. Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). (Pl Res SEAs) A:220.
  • Zuloaga, F. O. et al. 2003. Catalogue of New World grasses (Poaceae): III. Subfamilies Panicoideae, Aristidoideae, Arundinoideae, and Danthonioideae. Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 46:533.
  • Webster's third new international dictionary. (Websters Dict)
More:

Synonyms:


Check other databases for Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.:


Images:

  • Seed: U.S. National Seed Herbarium image
More:
  • Check PlantSystematics.org for additional images
  • Google 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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Cite as:
USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program.
Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database].
National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?27208 (09 February 2010)

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