''Setaria sphacelata'' is a tall African

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

, also known as South African pigeon grass and African bristlegrass. It is native to tropical and subtropical Africa, and is extensively cultivated globally as a

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

grass and for cut fodder. This is a

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

perennial grass producing flattened, hairless, blue-green stems up to 2 m tall. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a dense, narrow

panicle In botany, 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 p ...

of bristly, orange-tinged spikelets up to 25 cm long. In Africa, ''Setaria sphacelata'' seed heads are an important food source for several bird species, including the

long-tailed widowbird The long-tailed widowbird (''Euplectes progne'') is a species of bird in the weaver family Ploceidae.Mackworth-Praed, C.W., and C.H. Grant. (1960). ''Birds of Eastern and North Eastern Africa''. Longmans, Green and Co LTD.; London The species is ...

. Commercial

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s have been developed for various climates and soil conditions. All cultivars are high in

oxalate Oxalate (systematic IUPAC name: ethanedioate) is an anion with the chemical formula . This dianion is colorless. It occurs naturally, including in some foods. It forms a variety of salts, for example sodium oxalate (), and several esters such as ...

, making them generally unsuitable for

horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 milli ...

. Recognised pests in cultivation include the buffel grass seed caterpillar (''Mampava rhodoneura'') and the fungus ''Pyricularia trisa''. ''Setaria sphacelata'' is a good quality forage for ruminants such as cattle, sheep and goats. It can be fed fresh and ensiled. ''Setaria sphacelata'' has become

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

in many countries and is a significant

environmental weed Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

in three Australian states.

References

External links

USDA Plants ProfileFAO
sphacelata Grasses of Africa Flora of Southern Africa Grasses of South Africa Forages Flora of Nigeria {{Panicoideae-stub