''Cenchrus'' is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and warm

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

regions of the world. Its species are native to many countries in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, and various oceanic islands. 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. Those previously classified as ''Pennisetum'' are known commonly as fountaingrasses (fountain grasses).''Pennisetum''.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).''Pennisetum''.
The Jepson eFlora 2013.

Taxonomy

Pennisetum

''Pennisetum'' is a former genus that heavily overlaps with ''Cenchrus'',Martel, E., et al. (2004)
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
''Pennisetum'' Rich.
The Grass Manual. Flora of North America. ''Cenchrus'' was derived from ''Pennisetum'' and the two are grouped in a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

. A main morphological character that has been used to distinguish them is the degree of fusion of the bristles in the

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

, 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)
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

, and

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, with some of them widely naturalized in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, as well as on various oceanic islands.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>

Description

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

is a very dense, narrow

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

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 Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''penna'' ("feather") and ''seta'' ("bristle").

Uses

The genus includes

pearl millet Pearl millet (''Cenchrus americanus'', commonly known as the synonym ''Pennisetum glaucum'') is the most widely grown type of millet. It has been grown in Africa and the Indian subcontinent since prehistoric times. The center of diversity, and ...

(''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 A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

'Fairy Tails' is a recipient of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

Ecology

Many ''Pennisetum'' grasses are

noxious weed A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is harmful to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or lives ...

s, 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

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...

s, such as the chestnut-breasted mannikin (''Lonchura castaneothorax''), the

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

of the butterfly '' Melanitis phedima'', and the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of the fly genus '' Delia''. The genus is a host of the

pathogenic In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ. The term ...

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

Cochliobolus sativus The fungus ''Cochliobolus sativus'' is the teleomorph (sexual stage) of ''Bipolaris sorokiniana'' (anamorph) which is the causal agent of a wide variety of cereal diseases. The Plant pathology, pathogen can infect and cause disease on roots (wher ...

''.

Species

107 species are currently accepted. They include:The Plant List search for Cenchrus
/ref> * '' Cenchrus abyssinicus'' (Hack.) Morrone – Ethiopia, Tanzania, Yemen,

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

* '' Cenchrus agrimonioides'' Trin. – ''kāmanomano'' –

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...

* '' Cenchrus alopecuroides'' * '' Cenchrus americanus'' * '' Cenchrus annuus'' * '' Cenchrus arnhemicus'' (F.Muell.) Morrone – Australia (Western Australia and Northern Territory) * '' Cenchrus articularis'' * '' Cenchrus basedowii'' * '' Cenchrus beckeroides'' * '' Cenchrus biflorus'' Roxb. – ''kram-kram'' – Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Indian Subcontinent, and Madagascar * '' Cenchrus brevisetosus'' (B.K.Simon) B.K.Simon – Australia (Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland) * '' Cenchrus brownii'' Roem. & Schult. – North America, South America, and West Indies * '' Cenchrus cafer'' * '' Cenchrus caliculatus'' Cav. – Australia, New Zealand, and assorted islands in the Pacific and Indian oceans * '' Cenchrus caudatus'' * '' Cenchrus chilensis'' * '' Cenchrus ciliaris'' L. – buffelgrass – Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Indian Subcontinent, and Sicily; naturalized as a nutritious arid pasture lands in parts of North and South America, Australia,Henry DR Pasture plants of Southern Inland Queensland. DPI. 1995 Southeast Asia, and various islands; considered noxious weed in some places * '' Cenchrus clandestinus'' (Hochst. ex Chiov.) Morrone * '' Cenchrus complanatus'' * '' Cenchrus × cupreus'' * '' Cenchrus distachyus'' * '' Cenchrus distichophyllus'' Griseb. – Cuba * '' Cenchrus divisus'' * '' Cenchrus domingensis'' * '' Cenchrus durus'' * '' Cenchrus echinatus'' L. – common sandbur – North America, South America, and West Indies; naturalized in parts of Africa, southern Asia, and various islands * '' Cenchrus elegans'' (Hassk.) Veldkamp – Malesia * '' Cenchrus elymoides'' F.Muell. – Australia (Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland) * '' Cenchrus exiguus'' * '' Cenchrus flaccidus'' * '' Cenchrus flexilis'' * '' Cenchrus foermerianus'' * '' Cenchrus geniculatus'' * '' Cenchrus glaucifolius'' * '' Cenchrus gracilescens'' * '' Cenchrus gracillimus'' Nash – West Indies and southeastern USA * '' Cenchrus henryanus'' * '' Cenchrus hohenackeri'' * '' Cenchrus hordeoides'' * '' Cenchrus intectus'' * '' Cenchrus lanatus'' * '' Cenchrus latifolius'' * '' Cenchrus laxius'' * '' Cenchrus ledermannii'' * '' Cenchrus longisetus'' * '' Cenchrus longispinus'' (Hack.) Fern. – mat sandbur – Canada, USA, and Mexico * '' Cenchrus longissimus'' * '' Cenchrus × longistylus'' * '' Cenchrus massaicus'' * '' Cenchrus mezianus'' * '' Cenchrus michoacanus'' * '' Cenchrus mitis'' Andersson – Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Mozambique * '' Cenchrus monostigma'' * '' Cenchrus multiflorus'' J.Presl – Mexico, Central America * '' Cenchrus mutilatus'' * '' Cenchrus myosuroides'' Kunth – North America, South America, and West Indies * '' Cenchrus nanus'' * '' Cenchrus nervosus'' * '' Cenchrus nodiflorus'' * '' Cenchrus nubicus'' * '' Cenchrus occidentalis'' * '' Cenchrus orientalis'' * '' Cenchrus palmeri'' Vasey –

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

, Baja California Sur,

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...

, and Arizona * '' Cenchrus pennisetiformis'' Steud. – Africa, Arabian Peninsula, and Indian Subcontinent * '' Cenchrus peruvianus'' * '' Cenchrus petiolaris'' * '' Cenchrus pilcomayensis'' * '' Cenchrus pilosus'' Kunth – central Mexico to northern Chile * '' Cenchrus pirottae'' * '' Cenchrus platyacanthus'' Andersson – Galápagos * '' Cenchrus prieurii'' (Kunth) Maire –

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

, Arabian Peninsula, Indian Subcontinent, and

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

* '' Cenchrus preslii'' * '' Cenchrus procerus'' * '' Cenchrus prolificus'' * '' Cenchrus pseudotriticoides'' * '' Cenchrus pumilus'' * '' Cenchrus purpureus'' (Schumach.) Morrone – Africa and Oman * '' Cenchrus qianningensis'' * '' Cenchrus ramosus'' * '' Cenchrus rigidus'' * '' Cenchrus riparius'' * '' Cenchrus robustus'' R.D.Webster – Queensland and New South Wales * '' Cenchrus rupestris'' * '' Cenchrus sagittatus'' * '' Cenchrus schweinfurthii'' * '' Cenchrus setaceus'' – tender fountain grass, crimson fountaingrass – northern Africa and southwestern Asia; naturalized in Australia, New Zealand, and scattered places in Europe and the Americas * '' Cenchrus setiger'' Vahl – Sahara, East Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Indian Subcontinent, Myanmar, and

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

* '' Cenchrus shaanxiensis'' * '' Cenchrus sichuanensis'' * '' Cenchrus sieberianus'' * '' Cenchrus somalensis'' Clayton – Somalia * '' Cenchrus sphacelatus'' * '' Cenchrus spinifex'' Cav. – coastal sandbur – North America, South America, and West Indies * '' Cenchrus squamulatus'' * '' Cenchrus stramineus'' * '' Cenchrus tempisquensis'' * '' Cenchrus thulinii'' * '' Cenchrus trachyphyllus'' * '' Cenchrus tribuloides'' L. – sanddune sandbur – North America, South America, and West Indies * '' Cenchrus trisetus'' * '' Cenchrus tristachyus'' * '' Cenchrus uliginosus'' * '' Cenchrus unisetus'' * '' Cenchrus violaceus'' * '' Cenchrus weberbaueri'' * '' Cenchrus yemensis'' ; Formerly included Several species are now considered better suited to other genera: '' Anthephora, Centotheca, Dactyloctenium, Echinaria, Echinolaena, Hackelochloa,

Hilaria The Hilaria (; Latin "the cheerful ones", a term derived from the borrowed adjective "cheerful, merry") were ancient Roman religious festivals celebrated on the March equinox to honor Cybele. Origins The term seems originally to have been ...

, Pennisetum,

Phragmites ''Phragmites'' () is a genus of four species of large perennial plant, perennial reed (plant), reed Poaceae, grasses found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Taxonomy The World Checklist of Selected Plant Famili ...

, 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

References

External links

* {{Authority control Poaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus