The genera Brachiaria and Urochloa are closely related, and the two are united by some authors. See Veldkamp, Taxon 45 (1986) 319. However, this unification is not accepted by all authors - see Flora of China Vol 22 pp520-523 2006. We are following the treatment in the Flora of China and the Kew 'World Checklist of Selected Plant Families', and treating the two genera as distinct[].
Brachiaria and Urochloa are distinguished mainly by habit, Urochloa having rather more flattened, cuspidate spikelets enclosing a pronounced mucro from the upper lemma. The different spikelet orientation is also characteristic, though not obvious when the spikelets are paired. In Urochloa the lower glume faces outward, whereas in Brachiaria it lies against the rachis[]..

Common Name:

General Information

Brachiaria comata is a loosely tufted annual grass with weakly ascending culms; it can grow from 20 - 100cm tall[].
The plant is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food,

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Senegal to Eritrea, south to Cameroon, Congo, DR Congo and Tanzania; Arabian Peinula - Yemen

Habitat

Cultivated land and waste places[]. Deciduous bushland and in unsettled ground at elevations from 600 - 2,000 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Habit	Annual
Height	0.50 m
Pollinators	Wind
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

Seed. Mainly treated as a famine food, harvested from the wild when better foods are not available[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -

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