Digitaria iburua

{{Short description|Species of grass}}

{{Speciesbox

|genus = Digitaria

|species = iburua

|authority = Stapf

}}

Digitaria iburua, commonly known as iburu, is a grass species native to west and west-central tropical Africa,{{cite web |url=http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db/www/imp03006.htm |title=GrassBase |author1=W.D. Clayton |author2=M. Vorontsova |author2-link=Maria Vorontsova (botanist)|author3=K.T. Harman |author4=H. Williamson |access-date=6 February 2015}} which is cultivated as a grain crop known as black fonio.{{cite book |author1=Prance, G. |author2=Nesbitt, M. |year=2012 |title=The Cultural History of Plants |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781135958114 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=niwsBgAAQBAJ |page=55}}

Iburu (D. iburua) is closely related to white fonio (D. exilis), a cereal that is more widely grown across West Africa. However, Iburu is taller than fonio, but has smaller grain than fonio. This makes harvesting the grains very labor-intensive. Iburu is mainly grown in the Middle Belt of central Nigeria, as well as in Zinder, Niger.{{Cite book|title=Archaeology, language, and the African past|last=Blench|first=Roger|publisher=Altamira Press|year=2006|isbn=9780759104655}}