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elephant grass, Napier grass, Uganda grass

Habit Plants perennial; sometimes rhizomatous.
Culms

2-8 m, erect, pubescent beneath the panicle;

nodes glabrous or pubescent.

Sheaths

glabrous or pubescent;

ligules 1.5-5 mm;

blades 23-125 cm long, (4)12-40 mm wide, flat, glabrous or pubescent.

Panicles

terminal, 8-30.5 cm long, (10)30-50 mm wide, fully exerted from the leaf sheaths, erect, golden-yellow to dark purple;

rachises terete, pubescent.

Spikelets

5.9-7 mm, pedicellate;

pedicels of terminal spikelets 0.2-0.4 mm, of other spikelets 1.8-3 mm;

lower glumes absent or to 0.8 mm;

upper glumes 0.8-3 mm, 0-1-veined;

lower florets sterile or staminate;

lower lemmas 4-5.3 mm, 3-5(6)-veined;

lower paleas 4-4.7 mm;

anthers absent or 2.2-3.1 mm, penicillate;

upper lemmas 4.5-7 mm, subcoriaceous, shiny, 5-7-veined, acuminate;

anthers 2.7-3.6 mm, penicillate.

Caryopses

1.8-2.2 mm.

Fascicles

30-40 per cm, disarticulating at maturity;

fascicle axes 0.5-1.5 mm, with 1-5 spikelets;

outer bristles 20-63, 1.5-10.3 mm, yellow or purple, scabrous;

inner bristles 4-6, 9.1-11.5 mm, yellow or purple, sparsely long-ciliate;

primary bristles 13-40 mm, noticeably longer than the other bristles, yellow or purple, scabrous.

2n

= 28.

Pennisetum purpureum

Distribution
from FNA
CA; FL; TX; HI; PR; Virgin Islands
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Pennisetum purpureum is native to Africa but now grows in tropical areas throughout the world, frequently becoming naturalized. It is grown as an ornamental in the Flora region, and, less commonly, for forage.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 25.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Pennisetum
Sibling taxa
P. advena, P. alopecuroides, P. ciliare, P. clandestinum, P. flaccidum, P. glaucum, P. latifolium, P. macrostachys, P. macrourum, P. nervosum, P. orientale, P. pedicellatum, P. petiolare, P. polystachion, P. setaceum, P. setigerum, P. villosum
Name authority Schumach.
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