1. Cenchrus ciliaris L. (buffel grass)
Pl. 160 a,
b; Map 647
Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link
Plants perennial, usually with hardened, “knotty” bases.
Flowering stems 15–100 cm long. Leaf blades 2–25 cm long, 3–12 mm wide.
Inflorescences 3–10 cm long, with numerous spikelet clusters, these not burlike
at maturity, subtended by stout bristles, with 2–4 spikelets. Bristles 4–10 mm
long, united only at the base, ascending, in two series, a longer, coarser,
inner series and a shorter, finer, outer series. Spikelets 2.5–5.5 mm long.
Lower glume 1–3 mm long. Upper glume 1.5–3.5 mm long, 1‑ or 3‑nerved.
Sterile or staminate floret with the lemma 2.5–5.0 mm long. Fertile (perfect)
floret with the lemma 2.2–5.4 mm long. Anthers 2.0–2.5 mm long. Fruits 1.5–2.0
mm long. 2n=32, 34, 35, 36, 38, 40, 44, 52, 54. August–September.
Introduced, known only from St. Louis (native of Africa, Madagascar, and India, cultivated widely). Railroads.
Buffel grass is cultivated widely as a forage grass for
livestock in warmer regions of the world. It has become a common roadside weed
throughout much of Latin America and is becoming more common in portions of the
southwestern United States. Traditionally, C. ciliaris has been included
in the genus Pennisetum (Steyermark, 1963; Yatskievych and Turner,
1990), where some authors still place it. The two groups are closely related,
and some authors even combine them into a single genus under Cenchrus,
but they differ in whether the bristles and spines are fused or free and in
microscopic details of the spikelets (Webster, 1988; Crins, 1991).