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Useful Tropical Plants

Eragrostis amabilis

(L.) Wight & Arn.

Poaceae


Although the name used for this species has been Eragrostis tenella since 1897, Nicolson et al. (in Regnum Vegetabile 119: 309 (1988)) have indicated that it should be E. amabilis. Nobody doubts that Poa tenella and Poa amabilis are conspecific, but since the epithets were published simultaneously by Linnaeus in 1753, the first authority to unite them must be followed with respect to choice of epithet. It seems that Munro did this in 1862 and chose amabilis rather than tenella.The late discovery of this fact has necessitated an inconvenient and regrettable change of name for a common pantropical species[
308
Title
Flora Zambesiaca
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://apps.kew.org/efloras/fz/intro.html
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent online flora of plants from the Zambezi River basin. It lists a number of the plant uses as well as the habitats and botanical descriptions of the plants.
].

+ Synonyms

Cynodon amabilis (P.Beauv.) Raspail

Cyperus paniculatus Blanco

Eragrostis breviculmis H.Lév.

Eragrostis ciliaris patens Chapm. ex Beal

Eragrostis confinis Nees ex Steud.

Eragrostis despiciens (Link) Schult.

Eragrostis elytroblephara Steud.

Eragrostis laxa Baker

Eragrostis mauritii Steud.

Eragrostis plumosa (Retz.) Link

Eragrostis taffzagra Steud.

Eragrostis tenella (L.) P.Beauv. ex Roem. & Schult.

Erochloe amabilis (L.) Raf. ex B.D.Jacks

Megastachya amabilis (L.) P.Beauv.

Megastachya tenella (L.) Bojer

Poa amabilis L.

Poa despiciens Link

Poa indica Bory ex Steud.

Poa plumosa Retz.

Poa pseudamabilis Roxb. ex Stapf

Poa speciosa Willd. ex Spreng.

Poa tenella L.

Poa tenuissima Schrad.

Poa unioloides Willd. ex Spreng.

Common Name:

Eragrostis amabilis
Eragrostis amabilis Eragrostis amabilis Eragrostis amabilis Eragrostis amabilis Eragrostis amabilis

General Information

Eragrostis amabilis is a delicate, loosely clump-forming annual to perennial grass with erect or ascending, mostly unbranched culms up to 50cm tall[
308
Title
Flora Zambesiaca
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://apps.kew.org/efloras/fz/intro.html
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent online flora of plants from the Zambezi River basin. It lists a number of the plant uses as well as the habitats and botanical descriptions of the plants.
,
332
Title
The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
Burkil. H. M.
Publisher
Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew.
Year
1985 - 2004
ISBN
 
Description
Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
].
The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food. It is sometimes grown as a lawn and ground cover.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

308
Title
Flora Zambesiaca
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://apps.kew.org/efloras/fz/intro.html
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent online flora of plants from the Zambezi River basin. It lists a number of the plant uses as well as the habitats and botanical descriptions of the plants.

Range

Widely spread in subtropical and tropical areas from Africa through the Indian Ocean and Asia to the Philippines, New Guinea and western Pacific.

Habitat

In sand on river banks, lake-shores and coastal dunes; also in Kalahari Sand and as a weed of disturbed ground and cultivation, at elevations up to 1,160 metres[
308
Title
Flora Zambesiaca
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://apps.kew.org/efloras/fz/intro.html
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent online flora of plants from the Zambezi River basin. It lists a number of the plant uses as well as the habitats and botanical descriptions of the plants.
].

Properties

Weed PotentialYes
Edibility Rating *  *
Other Uses Rating *
HabitAnnual/Perennial
Height0.35 m
Cultivation StatusWild

Cultivation Details



The plant is a common weed of cultivated land[
332
Title
The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
Burkil. H. M.
Publisher
Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew.
Year
1985 - 2004
ISBN
 
Description
Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
].

Edible Uses

Seed[
332
Title
The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
Burkil. H. M.
Publisher
Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew.
Year
1985 - 2004
ISBN
 
Description
Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
]. Sometimes eaten as a cereal, it is said to be nutritious[
332
Title
The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
Burkil. H. M.
Publisher
Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew.
Year
1985 - 2004
ISBN
 
Description
Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
]. The seed is small and fiddly to utilize - it is most commonly seen as a famine food, used when nothing better is available[
332
Title
The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
Burkil. H. M.
Publisher
Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew.
Year
1985 - 2004
ISBN
 
Description
Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
].

Medicinal

None known

Agroforestry Uses:

Despite the plant's tendency to be annual, it has been grown as a lawn turf on the campus of University College, Cape Coast, Ghana, where self-sown seedlings maintain the sward[
332
Title
The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
Burkil. H. M.
Publisher
Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew.
Year
1985 - 2004
ISBN
 
Description
Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
]. It is also grown as a covering on the central divider of a roadway[
332
Title
The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa.
Publication
 
Author
Burkil. H. M.
Publisher
Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew.
Year
1985 - 2004
ISBN
 
Description
Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-03-29. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Eragrostis%20amabilis>

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