This species intergrades with Eragrostis minor, that species being distinguished by the narrower oblong (rather than ovate) spikelets, shorter lemmas, more open panicle and broadly oblong grain; but no single character can be relied upon to separate the two species[].

Common Name:

General Information

Eragrostis cilianensis is a loosely clump-forming annual grass with erect or ascending, branched or unbrabched culms; it can grow from 15 - 90cm tall[, ].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of materials. It is sometimes used in soil reclamation schemes.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Southern Europe, through much of Africa, eastern Mediterranean, central and east Asia to Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea.

Habitat

Deciduous woodlands; riverine and pan-margin thickets; wooded grassland; granite sandveld; on Kalahari Sand, doleritic, black alluvial turf and clay soils; also in disturbed ground and a weed of cultivation to 1,710m[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Annual
Height	0.45 m
Pollinators	Wind
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A common weed of cultivation[]. In some parts of the USA, where it has become naturalised, it is considered a pest, whilst in Sudan it is a weed of irrigated land[].

Edible Uses

Seed - eaten as a cereal[]. It can be made into cakes or eaten as a gruel[]. The seed is small and fiddly to utilize - it is most commonly seen as a famine food, used when nothing better is available[].

The grass is edible, and is taken as a normal part of the diet by people in the Lake Chad area[]. Does this refer to the leaves or the seed?[].

Medicinal

A root-decoction is taken as a treatment against flu in the event of an epidemic[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant's vigorous habit makes it useful as a pioneer coloniser, - it is used in Tanzania, along with some other grasses, in reclaiming eroded land[].

Other Uses

The culm yields straw that is used for thatching, though its quality is inferior[].
It is made into palliasses in Kordofan, and plaited into circular covers for pots holding milk or millet mash in the process of fermentation[].
People in N Nigeria make the straw into matting[].

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ, only just covering the seed. Germination is usually very quick and free.

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