Pennisetum clandestinum
Pennisetum ciliare
kikuyu grass
buffel grass
3-45 cm, decumbent, highly branching;
nodes glabrous.
10-150 cm, erect, sometimes branching at the aerial nodes, glabrous, sometimes scabrous beneath the panicle;
nodes glabrous.
glabrous or pubescent;
ligules 1.3-2.2 mm;
blades 1-15 cm long, 1-6 mm wide, flat or folded, glabrous or pubescent.
green or glaucous;
sheaths glabrous or pubescent, margins ciliate;
ligules 0.5-3 mm, membranous, ciliate;
blades 3-50 cm long, 2-13 mm wide, flat, glabrous or pubescent, margins ciliate or glabrous basally.
2-2.7 cm, axillary, concealed in the sheaths;
rachises flat, glabrous or scabrous.
2-20 cm long, 4-35 mm wide, fully exerted from the sheaths, erect, green, brown, brown-purple, or dark purple;
rachises terete, scabrous.
10-22 mm, sessile or pedicellate, pedicels to 0.2 mm;
lower glumes usually absent, sometimes to 0.5 mm, veinless;
upper glumes 0-1.3(3.5) mm, veinless;
lower florets sterile;
lower lemmas 10-22 mm, 9-13-veined;
lower paleas usually absent;
upper lemmas 10-22 mm, 8-12-veined;
upper paleas 2-7-veined;
anthers 4.7-7 mm, long-exserted from the florets at anthesis.
2.5-5.6 mm, sessile, glabrous;
lower glumes 1-3 mm, 0-1-veined;
upper glumes 1.3-3.4 mm, about 1/2 as long as the spikelet, (0)1-3-veined;
lower florets staminate or sterile;
lower lemmas 2.5-5.3 mm, 3-7-veined;
lower paleas absent or 2.5-5 mm;
anthers absent or about 1.4 mm;
upper florets not disarticulating at maturity;
upper lemmas 2.2-5.4 mm, (3)5(6)-veined, margins glabrous;
anthers 1.4-2.7 mm.
1.2-1.9 mm long, 0.4-1 mm wide, concealed by the lemma and palea at maturity.
1-6;
axes to 0.5 mm, with 1-2 spikelets;
outer and inner bristles alike, 6-15, 0.5-10.9 mm;
primary bristles 10-14 mm, usually not noticeably longer than the other bristles.
11-37 per cm, disarticulating at maturity;
fascicle axes 0.2-1.5 cm, with 1-12 spikelets;
outer bristles 16-89, 0.3-11.7 mm, many exceeding the spikelets;
inner bristles 7-20, 3.8-13.8 mm, fused to 1/4 of their length, flattened, grooved, ciliate;
primary bristles 10.5-23 mm, long-ciliate, noticeably longer than the other bristles.
= 36.
= 36, 45.
Pennisetum clandestinum
Pennisetum ciliare
Pennisetum clandestinum is native to Africa. It now grows in many parts of the world, often as a forage or lawn grass. The U.S. Department of Agriculture considers it a noxious weed. In parts of the Flora region, it is well-established in lawns.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Pennisetum ciliare is native to Africa, western Asia, and India. It now grows throughout the warmer, drier regions of the world, often as a forage crop, and is established in much of the southeastern United States. It is sometimes included in Cenchrus, based solely on the fusion of its bristles.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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