''Ixophorus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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 ...

n plants in the

grass family Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in ...

. The only recognized species is ''Ixophorus unisetus''.Hiser, K. M
''Ixophorus'' Schltdl.
Grass Manual. Flora of North America.Kellogg, E. A., et al. (2004)
Taxonomy, phylogeny, and inflorescence development of the genus ''Ixophorus'' (Panicoideae: Poaceae).
''Int J Plant Sci'' 165(6) 1089-1105. Some authors have included one or two other species in the genus, such as ''I. pringlei'', but these have more recently been reduced to

synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

. Common names for ''I. unisetus'' include crane grass, turkey grass, Honduras grass, Mexican grass,''Ixophorus unisetus''.
Grassland Species Profiles. FAO. Central America grass, ''hático'' (

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

), ''zacate blanco'' (

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

), and ''zacate chompipe'' (

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

).Quattrocchi, U. ''CRC World Dictionary of Grasses: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology, Volume 1''. CRC Press. 2006. pg. 1141. This grass is native to

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, and

. It is an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

.''Ixophorus unisetus''.
Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER). The grass is variable. It can be annual or perennial, growing up to 1.5 meters tall or remaining much shorter. The stem can be up to a centimeter wide and dry to nearly succulent. The inflorescence is an open

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 ...

with up to 50 branches. This grass is grown for

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

and

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

in some places, such as

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Taxonomy

Several taxa were once regarded as members of ''Ixophorus'' but are now regarded as better suited to other genera, such as ''

Pennisetum ''Cenchrus'' is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. Its species are native to many countries in Asia, Africa, Australia, the Americas, and various oceanic islands. Comm ...

'' and ''

Setaria ''Setaria'' is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family. The name is derived from the Latin word ''seta'', meaning "bristle" or "hair", which refers to the bristly spikelets. The genus includes over 100 species distributed in many t ...

'': * ''Ixophorus glaucus'' – ''

Pennisetum glaucum 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 ...

'' * ''Ixophorus glaucus'' var. ''laevigatus'' – ''

Setaria parviflora ''Setaria parviflora'' is a species of Poaceae, grass known by the common names marsh bristlegrass, knotroot bristle-grass, bristly foxtail and yellow bristlegrass. It is native to North America, including Mexico and the United States from Califo ...

'' * ''Ixophorus italicus'' – ''

Setaria italica Foxtail millet, scientific name ''Setaria italica'' (synonym ''Panicum italicum'' L.), is an annual grass grown for human food. It is the second-most widely planted species of millet, and the most grown millet species in Asia. The oldest evidenc ...

'' * ''Ixophorus verticillatus'' – ''

Setaria verticillata ''Setaria verticillata'' is a species of grass known by the common names hooked bristlegrass, rough bristle-grass and bristly foxtail. It is native to Europe, but it is known on most continents as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. I ...

'' * ''Ixophorus viridis'' – ''

Setaria viridis ''Setaria viridis'' is a species of grass known by many common names, including green foxtail, green bristlegrass, and wild foxtail millet. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of ''Setaria italica''. It is native to Eurasia, but it is known ...

References

External links

Grassbase - The World Online Grass Flora
Panicoideae Grasses of North America Grasses of South America Grasses of Mexico Flora of Central America Flora of the Caribbean Monotypic Poaceae genera {{Panicoideae-stub