''Paspalum'' is a
genus of plants in the
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 group is widespread across much of
Asia,
Africa,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, and the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
. Commonly known as paspalum, bahiagrasses, crowngrasses or dallis grasses, many of the species are tall
perennial New World grasses. They are warm-season
C4 grasses and are most diverse in
subtropical
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...
and
tropical regions.
''
Paspalum scrobiculatum'' (''koda'', ''varuka'', ''varuku'', etc.) is a
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...
locally grown as food
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...
. Some
species, such as
bahiagrass
''Paspalum notatum'', known commonly as bahiagrass, common bahia, and Pensacola bahia, is a tropical to subtropical perennial grass (family Poaceae). It is known for its prominent V-shaped infloresce