Family |
Poaceae
Imperata cylindrica
L.
Imperata cylindrica (L.) Raeusch.
First published in Nomencl. Bot. Pl. Illustr., ed. 3: 10 (1797).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, pp. 39–40, Pl. XV, 1; 1966)
Description
Life-form & habit: Perennial grass with long creeping or oblique rhizomes and stiff, erect stems 30–50 cm tall, their bases covered by old leaf sheaths.
Leaves: Linear and channelled, with a broad white midrib and rough margins; the blades roll inward when dry. Stem leaves have shorter blades.
Inflorescence & flowers: Dense, erect, cylindrical, silky-white panicle. The pointed glumes are nearly equal, oblong-linear and sometimes tinged violet. Each fertile flower has two stamens and two conspicuous brown or purple stigmas.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowering March–July.
Habitat & elevation: Damp ground, especially sandy soils.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Tyr, Nahr Damour, Beirut, Bouchriye, Nahr Beirut, Nahr el Kalb, Tripoli, Jamhour, Salima–Qornayel, Qraye, Ras el Metn, Bcharre, Qleyyat and Bqaatouta.
Syrian distribution: Tartous, Haffe, Homs, Aleppo, Chabaa and northeast of Damascus.
Native range: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Baleares, Benin, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Corse, Cyprus, DR Congo, East Aegean Is., Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, France, Free State, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Iran, Iraq, Italy, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Kriti, Kuwait, KwaZulu-Natal, Lebanon-Syria, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Madeira, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, NW. Balkan Pen., Oman, Palestine, Portugal, Rwanda, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sicilia, Sierra Leone, Sinai, Socotra, Spain, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Introduced into: Alabama, Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, Caroline Is., China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Christmas I., Cocos (Keeling) Is., East Himalaya, Fiji, Florida, Georgia, Hainan, India, Inner Mongolia, Japan, Jawa, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Korea, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Louisiana, Malaya, Maluku, Manchuria, Marianas, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New South Wales, New Zealand North, Nicobar Is., Norfolk Is., North Caucasus, Northern Territory, Ogasawara-shoto, Oregon, Pakistan, Philippines, Queensland, Samoa, Solomon Is., South Australia, South Carolina, South China Sea, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Tadzhikistan, Taiwan, Tasmania, Texas, Thailand, Tibet, Tonga, Transcaucasus, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Victoria, Vietnam, Virginia, Wallis-Futuna Is., West Himalaya, Western Australia, Xinjiang.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
Mouterde cites the combination under P. Beauvois; Kew accepts the author citation (L.) Raeusch. and the 1797 publication given above.