''Panicum turgidum'' is an old world clumping desert
bunchgrass of the genus ''
Panicum
''Panicum'' (panicgrass) is a large genus of about 450 species of grasses native throughout the tropical regions of the world, with a few species extending into the northern temperate zone. They are often large, annual or perennial grasses, grow ...
''. It is a plant of arid regions across Africa and Asia, and has been introduced to other parts of the world.
Description
''Panicum turgidum'' is a
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
bunchgrass, growing in dense bushes up to tall. The stems are long-jointed, hard and polished, with few leaves, resembling bamboo shoots. Side shoots branch out at the nodes, and the stems bend over and root when the nodes get buried. The
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. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...
is a terminal panicle up to long with solitary spikelets some long. The roots are covered in hairs to which fine sand adheres creating a felted appearance.
This is a drought- and salt-tolerant species, and used for flour, fodder, thatch and
erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is di ...
control.
[
]
Distribution and habitat
It is common across the Sahara
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, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
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and Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
, from Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣 ...
to Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, and known by a number of common names, most widely as Taman, tuman, or thaman in Egypt and Arabia; merkba or markouba in Mauritania and some Saharan Arabics; and afezu in Tamachek
Tamashek or Tamasheq is a variety of Tuareg, a Berber macro-language widely spoken by nomadic tribes across North Africa in Algeria, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Tamasheq is one of the three main varieties of Tuareg, the others being Tamajaq ...
. Other common names include guinchi (eastern Sahara
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, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
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) and du-ghasi (Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...
). It grows on sand dunes in hot, dry climates, and will also grow in latosol Latosols, also known as tropical red earth, are soils found under tropical rainforests which have a relatively high content of iron and aluminium oxides. They are typically classified as oxisols (USDA soil taxonomy) or ferralsols (World Reference B ...
s.[
]
Ecology
In the Nigerien Sahara, tussocks of ''Panicum turgidum'' act as a nurse plants for tree regeneration. They have been shown facilitating the regeneration of ''Acacia tortilis'' subsp. ''raddiana'' by protecting seedlings from drought and domestic herbivory. Accordingly, transplanting seedlings of Saharan trees inside ''Panicum''’s tussocks may promote substantially reforestation in degraded areas on a long-term scale.[
]
References
p. 261. Board on Science and Technology for International Development, Office of International Affairs, National Research Council. Lost Crops of Africa: Volume I: Grains
The National Academies of Science, United States. (1996) .
*
*
* Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. and Williamson, H. (2006 onwards). GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora
(accessed 4 January 2009)
*[http://ispi-lit.cirad.fr/text/Culmsee97c.htm Culmess, Heike. (1997): Investigations on the feeding and migration behavior of the Desert Locust Schistocerca gregaria depending on the vegetation of Mauritania]. Project Integrated Biological Control of Grasshoppers and Locusts. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH.
Fabien Anthelmea, Maman Waziri Matob, Dimitri de Boissieua, Franck Giazzi. (2006). DÉGRADATION DES RESSOURCES VÉGÉTALES AU CONTACT DES ACTIVITÉS HUMAINES ET PERSPECTIVES DE CONSERVATION DANS LE MASSIF DE L'AÏR (SAHARA, NIGER)
VertigO . VOLUME 7, Numéro 2, Art. 15.
External links
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q3768293
turgidum
Flora of the Arabian Peninsula
Flora of the Indian subcontinent
Flora of North Africa
Flora of Northeast Tropical Africa
Flora of the Republic of the Congo
Flora of West Tropical Africa
Flora of Western Asia
Plants described in 1775