''Panicum coloratum'' is a species of

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

known by the common names kleingrass, blue panicgrass''Panicum coloratum''.
Tropical Forages. (USA),Bambatsi Panic.
Government of Western Australia Department of Agriculture and Food.''Panicum coloratum''.
USDA NRCS Plant Fact Sheet. white buffalograss (southern Africa); Bambatsi panic, makarikari grass, and coolah grass (Australia). It is native to Africa, and it has been introduced elsewhere, such as the United States and Australia, and bred into many

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 ...

s. This plant is variable in appearance. In general, is a perennial bunchgrass which usually has

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

s. The firm, mostly upright stems grow up to tall. The leaf blades are long.''Panicum coloratum''.
Grass Manual Treatment. They are green to a waxy blue-green color. The

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 ...

s are variable in length. The spikelets are green and purple. This grass is used as a pasture grass and to make

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 ...

. It produces a large amount of forage for animals. It is

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

-tolerant and does well in hot climates.Blake, C
Kleingrass gains ground in desert ag.
''Western Farm Press'' September 3, 2009. This C4 plant can grow on saline soilsBehling, A
Kleingrass catches on.
''Hay and Forage Grower'' February 1, 2001. and requires some of sodium for effective

photosynthesis Photosynthesis ( ) is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabo ...

.Murata, S. and J. Sekiya. (1992)
Effects of sodium on photosynthesis in ''Panicum coloratum''.
''Plant Cell Physiol'' 33(8) 1239-42. Different cultivars have varying tolerances of sodium. While it makes a good graze for most animals, the grass has occasionally been associated with

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

damage and

photosensitivity Photosensitivity is the amount to which an object reacts upon receiving photons, especially visible light. In medicine, the term is principally used for abnormal reactions of the skin, and two types are distinguished, photoallergy and phototoxicit ...

in young

ruminant Ruminants are herbivorous grazing or browsing artiodactyls belonging to the suborder Ruminantia that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally through microb ...

s and horses.Hepatotoxic Plants.
Merck Veterinary Manual. This photosensitivity can lead to

sunburn Sunburn is a form of radiation burn that affects living tissue, such as skin, that results from an overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, usually from the Sun. Common symptoms in humans and other animals include red or reddish skin tha ...

, which causes swelling of the head and ears of the animal, a condition commonly called "swellhead".Sheep, goat producers should watch for kleingrass problems.
''Livestock Weekly'' Cultivars include 'Pollock', 'Bambatsi', 'Bushman Mine', 'Verde', and 'Kabulabula'.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q7131126 coloratum Grasses of Africa