Common Name: Elephant Grass

General Information

Elephant grass is a vigorous perennial clumping grass producing bamboo-like culms 3 - 7 metres tall and up to 25mm thick at the base[, ].
The plant is extensively cultivated in many areas of the humid tropics and subtropics as an excellent drought-resistant grass for green forage, silage, mulching, soil regeneration, wind shelter, erosion control, and biomass production[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Sierra Leone to Ethiopia, south to Angola, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Habitat

Common in damp grassland, along forest edges and in cultivation, at elevations from near sea level to about 2,000 metres[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Perennial
Height	5.00 m
Growth Rate	Fast
Pollinators	Wind
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the moist tropics, it can also be grown in subtropical and warm temperate regions. It is found at elevations from near sea level to 2,000 metres in the tropics[]. It grows best in areas where the mean annual temperature falls within the range 21 - 40°c, but can tolerate 15 - 45°c[]. Plants can survive occasional light frosts[]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,500 - 2,500mm, tolerating 850 - 4,000mm[].
Grows best in a sunny position, but tolerates light shade[]. Succeeds in most soils - although it can persist and compete in dry, sandy soils, it grows best in rich, well-drained conditions[, ]. Established plants have a deep root system and are extremely drought tolerant[, , ]. It prefers a pH in the range 5 - 6.5, tolerating 4.5 - 8.2[].
The plant has escaped from cultivation and become naturalized in many parts of the tropics and subtropics[]. In moist rich places it forms reed jungles, thereby eliminating the use of such land for cultivation[]. It forms dense perennial stands, difficult to penetrate, which inhibits establishment of other vegetation[].
A fast-growing plant, under favourable conditions it can reach a height of several metres within 60 days[].
Plants recover well after fire, and can become the dominant vegetation in fire-affected savannah communities[].
Seed set is usually poor, possibly due to low pollen viability[].

Edible Uses

Very young and tender inflorescences are eaten as vegetable[].

The young leaves and shoots are added to soups to provide extra protein, carbohydrates, fat and vitamins[]. The soup is mildly laxative[].

The culms, reduced to ash, are leached to produce a vegetable salt[].

Medicinal

The plant is used in a number of medical applications in Africa[]. Examination of Nigerian material has shown a trace of alkaloid in the leaf[].

Extracts of all parts of the plant are strongly diuretic[]. An infusion of both foliage and culms is used in treating anuria, whilst a root-decoction is given in the treatment of blennorrhoea[].

A leaf-infusion is used as a gargle and mouthwash to treat buccal affections, gingivitis and thrush[].

Sap expressed from young shoots which have been heated over a fire is mixed with a little salt and instilled into the eyes for treating cataracts[]. The sap is also considered healing on wounds, both on its own and also in combination with other herbs[]. The stem-sap is used in treating ear problems[].

The pith taken from the ends of young culms is softened in a fire and used as a dressing for contusions[].

Ash from the roasted culms is mixed into an ointment with palm-oil or false shea butter (Lophira lancolata), then used as a base for treating herpes and other skin-complaints[]. The ash is added to slices of the large green banana and then put on ulcers on the soles of the feet[].

The seed is reportedly used to cure headache[].

Agroforestry Uses:

Elephant grass has a range of uses in perennial gardening. It is extensively cultivated as an excellent drought-resistant grass for green forage, silage, and mulching. Some cultivars withstand permanent grazing. Sometimes it is grown for soil regeneration (3 - 6 year fallow), as wind shelter, for erosion control, and also for biomass production[].
It can be used for ground cover, soil conservation and windbreaks[].
It is planted as a boundary-marker between garden plots[], even though the roots can compete with the adjacent crop[].
The vigorous compact habit of growth lends the plant to the establishment of stands on river-banks to prevent erosion and scour[].
Intercropping with cassava and banana is often practised in home gardens[].

Other Uses

The plant can be used as a source of fibre for making paper, in much the same way as Esparto grass (Stipa tenacissima)[]. They produce a good quality paper[].
The following notes refer to Esparto grass - A fibre from the leaves and stems is used in making paper, mats, ropes etc[, , , , ]. It is very strong[] and is particularly used in making high quality paper[]. The leaves and stems are harvested in the summer, cut into usable pieces and soaked in clear water for 24 hours[]. They are then cooked in lye for 2 hours and beaten in a bell mill.

The dried culms are used to make fences, huts and screens[, ]. They are also used for thatching in some areas, though are not favoured for this purpose in other areas[].

The dried culms serve as pipe stems[].

Culms, cut to a sharp point, are used as spears in mimic battle in some religious rites in N Nigeria[].

Propagation

Seed -
Vegetative propagation is either by dividing clumps of roots and stubble, or by stem cuttings consisting of at least three nodes, two of which are buried[].

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Captcha: if i have 3 bananas, and i eat them all, how many bananas did i just eat?