Cenchrus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "other uses". Template:Use dmy dates Template:Automatic taxobox

Cenchrus is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the world.[1][2] Its species are native to many countries in Asia, Africa, Australia, the Americas, and various oceanic islands.[3][4]

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.[5] Those previously classified as Pennisetum Template:IPAc-en[6] are known commonly as fountaingrasses (fountain grasses).[7][8][9][10]

Taxonomy

Pennisetum

Pennisetum is a former genus that heavily overlaps with Cenchrus,[11] and the boundary between them has been unclear.[12] Cenchrus was derived from Pennisetum and the two are grouped in a monophyletic clade.[13] 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.[14] The genus is currently not accepted as separate from Cenchrus in Kew's Plants of the World Online database.[15]

Distribution

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

They are annual or perennial grasses. Some are petite while others can produce stems up to 8 meters tall.[12] 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").[12]

Uses

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.[17][18]

Ecology

File:Pennisetum setaceum-Guinther.jpg
Invasive Cenchrus setaceus 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

File:Foxtail fountain grass.jpg
Cenchrus alopecuroides
File:Pennisetum hohenackeri W IMG 4147.jpg
Cenchrus hohenackeri
File:Pennisetum orientale.jpg
Cenchrus orientalis
File:Pennisetum pedicellatum in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 1342.jpg
Cenchrus pedicellatus
File:狼尾草 20190423203654.jpg
Cenchrus alopecuroides

107 species are currently accepted.[15] They include:[19][20][21][22]

Formerly included[19]

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

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Further reading

  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

External links

Template:Sister project Template:Sister project

Template:Taxonbar Template:Authority control

  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named s
  2. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 2: 1049–1050 in Latin
  3. ↑ Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 552 蒺藜草属 ji li cao shu Cenchrus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1049. 1753.
  4. ↑ Altervista Flora Italiana, genere Cenchrus includes photos and range maps for several species
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Sunset Western Garden Book. 1995. 606–07.
  7. ↑ Pennisetum. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
  8. ↑ Pennisetum. The Jepson eFlora 2013.
  9. ↑ Pennisetum. USDA PLANTS.
  10. ↑ Identified gaps for Pennisetum genepool. Template:Webarchive Crop Wild Relatives. CIAT.
  11. ↑ Martel, E., et al. (2004). Chromosome evolution of Pennisetum species (Poaceae): implications of ITS phylogeny. Plant Systematics and Evolution 249(3–4), 139–49.
  12. ↑ a b c Wipff, J. K. Pennisetum Rich. The Grass Manual. Flora of North America.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ a b Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named powo
  16. ↑ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "template wrapper".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ The Plant List search for Cenchrus
  23. ↑ Henry DR Pasture plants of Southern Inland Queensland. DPI. 1995
Retrieved from "http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Cenchrus&oldid=2269501"