Setaria sphacelata
Encyclopedia
Setaria sphacelata is a species of grass
known by the common name African bristlegrass. It is native to tropical Africa, but it is grown in many other areas as a forage
for grazing
livestock. It may also be planted to reduce the invasion of weed
s. In some places it grows in the wild as a naturalized
species. This is a rhizomatous
perennial grass producing flattened, hairless stems over one meter in maximum height. The inflorescence
is a dense, narrow panicle
of bristly, orange-tinged spikelets up to 25 centimeters long.
A number of cultivar
s have been developed for use in various climates and soil conditions. Pests include the buffel grass seed caterpillar (Mampava rhodoneura) and the fungus Pyricularia trisa.
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
known by the common name African bristlegrass. It is native to tropical Africa, but it is grown in many other areas as a forage
Forage
Forage is plant material eaten by grazing livestock.Historically the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially...
for grazing
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
livestock. It may also be planted to reduce the invasion of weed
Weed
A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...
s. In some places it grows in the wild as a naturalized
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
species. This is a rhizomatous
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
perennial grass producing flattened, hairless stems over one meter in maximum height. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a dense, narrow panicle
Panicle
A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches; in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes....
of bristly, orange-tinged spikelets up to 25 centimeters long.
A number of cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s have been developed for use in various climates and soil conditions. Pests include the buffel grass seed caterpillar (Mampava rhodoneura) and the fungus Pyricularia trisa.