Pennisetum clandestinum
Pennisetum setigerum
kikuyu grass
birdwood grass
3-45 cm, decumbent, highly branching;
nodes glabrous.
5-100 cm, erect, sometimes branching, mostly glabrous but 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;
sheaths glabrous or pubescent, margins ciliate;
ligules 0.6-1.2 mm, membranous, ciliate;
blades 2-45 cm long, 2.5-7 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.
2-13.8 cm long, 4-11 mm wide, erect, green 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.
3.1-5.3 mm, sessile, glabrous;
lower glumes 1-2.5 mm, 0-1-veined;
upper glumes 1.5-3.4 mm, (0)1-3-veined, about 1/2 as long as the spikelet;
lower florets staminate or sterile;
upper florets not disarticulating at maturity;
lower lemmas 2.7-5.3 mm, 3-7-veined;
lower paleas absent or 2.5-4.5 mm;
anthers absent or 0.9-3 mm;
upper lemmas 2.8-5 mm, 3-5-veined;
anthers 3, 2-3.2 mm.
1.2-1.8 mm long, 0.4-1 mm wide.
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.
11-24 per cm, disarticulating at maturity;
fascicle axes 0.2-1.1 mm, with 1-12 spikelets;
outer bristles 10-62, 0.1-1.8 mm, not exceeding the spikelets;
inner bristles 6-32, 1.2-5 mm, ciliate, fused for 1/3 – 1/2 their length;
flattened, grooved;
primary bristles 2.9-6.5 mm, ciliate, not noticeably longer than the other bristles.
= 36.
= 34, 36, 37, 54, 72.
Pennisetum clandestinum
Pennisetum setigerum
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 setigerum is grown as a forage grass in the southern United States, but is not known to be established in the Flora region. It is native to Africa, Arabia, and India. It is sometimes included in Cenchrus, based solely on the fusion of its bristles.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
