''Heteropogon contortus'' is a tropical, perennial
tussock grass
Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perenni ...
with a native distribution encompassing Southern
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, southern
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...
, Northern
Australia,
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
, and southwestern
North America. The species has also become a naturalised weed in tropical and subtropical regions in the
Americas and East Asia. The plant grows to in height and is favoured in most environments by frequent
burning. The plants develop characteristic dark seeds with a single long
awn at one end and a sharp spike at the other. The awn becomes twisted when dry and straightens when moistened, and in combination with the spike is capable of drilling the seed into the soil.
The species is known by many common names, including black speargrass, tanglehead, ''steekgras'' (in
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans g ...
) and ''pili'' (in
Hawaiian, ultimately from
Proto-Austronesian *''pilit''₁ "to adhere/stick"). ''H. contortus'' is a valuable
pasture
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or s ...
species across much of its range. However, it has also been responsible for the elimination of the
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool.
...
industry over much of Australia due to the seeds becoming embedded in the wool and skin of sheep and devaluing the wool and killing the animals. ''H. contortus '' seeds are also responsible for similar injuries in dogs with thick undercoats, or becoming embedded in the socks and skin of hikers.
Uses
Native Hawaiians used ''pili'' to
thatch
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
''hale'' (houses).
Ruler
Pilikaʻaiea was named after the grass, and his royal house was
Pili line (''Hale o Pili'').
Gallery
Image:Heteropogon contortus seed.jpg, Single seed demonstrating long twisted awn
Image:Heteropogon contortus seedhead.jpg,
File:Heteropogon contortus W IMG_3500.jpg,
See also
*
Mount Huangmao, the highest point in
China's
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by ...
province, is named for the plant
References
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2716358
Panicoideae
Poales of Australia
Flora of Hawaii
Flora of Queensland
Forages