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Cenchrus

{{Short description|Genus of grasses}}

{{Other uses}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image = Cenchrus longispinus.jpg

|image_caption = Cenchrus longispinus line drawing{{Cite PLANTS |symbol=CELO3 |taxon=Cenchrus longispinus |access-date=2024-11-08 |quote= Britton, N.L., and A. Brown, 1913, An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Provided by Kentucky Native Plant Society, New York.}}

|image2 = Cenchrus echinatus burr4 (6923220592).jpg

|image2_caption = Cenchrus echinatus burr

|display_parents = 4

|taxon = Cenchrus

|authority = L. (1753){{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?2228 |title=Genus: Cenchrus L. |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |date=9 March 1999 |access-date=6 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605224915/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?2228 |archive-date=5 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}

|type_species_authority = L.

|type_species = Cenchrus echinatuslectotype designated by Green, Prop. Brit. Bot.: 193 (1929)[http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40003452 Tropicos, Cenchrus L.]

|synonyms =

  • Amphochaeta {{small|Andersson (1855)}}
  • Beckeropsis {{small|Fig. & De Not. (1853)}}
  • Catatherophora {{small|Steud. (1829)}}
  • Cenchropsis Nash (1903)
  • Echinaria Fabr. (1759), rejected name not Desf. 1799
  • Eriochaeta {{small|Fig. & De Not. (1853)}}
  • Gymnotrix {{small|P.Beauv. (1812)}}
  • Kikuyuochloa {{small|H.Scholz (2006)}}
  • Lloydia {{small|Delile (1844), nom. illeg.}}
  • Odontelytrum Hack. (1898)
  • Penicillaria {{small|Willd. (1809)}}
  • Pennisetum {{small|Rich. (1805)}}
  • Pseudochaetochloa Hitchc. (1924)
  • Raram Adans. (1763)
  • Runcina Allamand (1770)
  • Sericura {{small|Hassk. (1842)}}

|synonyms_ref = [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30002698-2 Cenchrus L.] Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 1 July 2023.

}}

Cenchrus is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the world.[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/359070#page/491/mode/1up Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 2: 1049–1050] in Latin Its species are native to many countries in Asia, Africa, Australia, the Americas, and various oceanic islands.[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=106002 Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 552 蒺藜草属 ji li cao shu Cenchrus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1049. 1753. ][http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/floraspecie.php?genere=Cenchrus Altervista Flora Italiana, genere Cenchrus] includes photos and range maps for several species

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.shellkey.org/updates.asp |title=What is a Sandspur anyway? |publisher=shelkey.org|date=20 October 2008 |access-date=13 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090816225320/http://www.shellkey.org/updates.asp |archive-date=16 August 2009 }} Those previously classified as Pennisetum {{IPAc-en|ˌ|p|ɛ|n|ᵻ|ˈ|s|iː|t|əm}}Sunset Western Garden Book. 1995. 606–07. are known commonly as fountaingrasses (fountain grasses).[https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=42000 Pennisetum.] Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=11134 Pennisetum.] The Jepson eFlora 2013.[http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=PENNI Pennisetum.] USDA PLANTS.[http://gisweb.ciat.cgiar.org/GapAnalysis/?p=273 Identified gaps for Pennisetum genepool.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725220052/http://gisweb.ciat.cgiar.org/GapAnalysis/?p=273 |date=25 July 2011 }} Crop Wild Relatives. CIAT.

Taxonomy

=Pennisetum=

Pennisetum is a former genus that heavily overlaps with Cenchrus,Martel, E., et al. (2004). [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00606-004-0191-6?LI=true#page-1 Chromosome evolution of Pennisetum species (Poaceae): implications of ITS phylogeny.] Plant Systematics and Evolution 249(3–4), 139–49. and the boundary between them has been unclear.Wipff, J. K. [http://herbarium.usu.edu/webmanual/info2.asp?name=Pennisetum_glaucum+&type=treatment Pennisetum Rich.] The Grass Manual. Flora of North America. Cenchrus was derived from Pennisetum and the two are grouped in a monophyletic clade.Ozias-Akins, P., et al. (2003). [http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/33996/PDF Molecular characterization of the genomic region linked with apomixis in Pennisetum/Cenchrus.] Functional & Integrative Genomics, 3(3), 94–104. 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.Chemisquy, M. A., et al. (2010). [https://archive.today/20130827235402/http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/106/1/107.full 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. The genus is currently not accepted as separate from Cenchrus in Kew's Plants of the World Online database.

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.[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/synonomy.do?name_id=432566 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]

Description

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

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/270958/i-Pennisetum-i-Fairy-Tails/Details

|title=Pennisetum 'Fairy Tails' |publisher=RHS |access-date=12 June 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf |title=AGM Plants – Ornamental |date=July 2017 |page=107 |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=12 June 2019}}

Ecology

File:Pennisetum setaceum-Guinther.jpg 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]]

File:Pennisetum hohenackeri W IMG 4147.jpg]]

File:Pennisetum orientale.jpg]]

File:Pennisetum pedicellatum in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 1342.jpg]]

File:狼尾草 20190423203654.jpg

107 species are currently accepted. They include:{{cite web|url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=451210|title=Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families|publisher=}}{{ITIS |id=40569 |taxon=Cenchrus |accessdate=6 March 2011}}{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?2228 |title=GRIN Species Records of Cenchrus |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |access-date=6 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508032827/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?2228 |archive-date=8 May 2009 |url-status=dead }}[http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=Cenchrus The Plant List search for Cenchrus]

; Formerly included

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

File:Sand spur with centimeter scale.jpg|Sand spur in front of a centimeter scale

File:Sandspurs 2.jpg|Sandspurs with 1mm markings

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • {{cite web |url=http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu/News%20columns/Sandspur.htm |title=Sticky Sandspur |first=D. |last=Culbert |date=19 October 2003 |publisher=UF/IFAS Okeechobee County Extension Service}}
  • {{cite web |title=Pennisetum Rich. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:60437274-2 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=15 November 2020}}

External links

{{Commons category}}

{{Wikispecies}}

  • {{GrassBase | name = Cenchrus | id = gen00110}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q430325|from2=Q1762112}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Poaceae genera

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus