grass family
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and ...
. 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. 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 in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
), ''zacate blanco'' (
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de 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 b ...
,
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
, Mexico), and ''zacate chompipe'' ( Nicaragua).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 Mexico, Central America, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
. It is an introduced species in Hawaii.''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
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 panicle are of ...
with up to 50 branches.
This grass is grown for grazing and hay in some places, such as
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
.
;formerly included
several taxa once regarded as members of ''Ixophorus'' but now regarded as better suited to other genera: ''
Pennisetum
''Pennisetum'' is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. They are known commonly as fountaingrasses (fountain grasses).Setaria''
* ''Ixophorus glaucus'' – '' Pennisetum glaucum''
* ''Ixophorus glaucus'' var. ''laevigatus'' – '' Setaria parviflora''
* ''Ixophorus italicus'' – '' Setaria italica''
* ''Ixophorus verticillatus'' – '' Setaria verticillata''
* ''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 o ...