Common Name: Desert Grass

General Information

Desert grass is a much-branched, perennial tussock-grass with smooth, solid culms growing 1 - 2 metres tall and rooting at the nodes[]. The plant forms rounded tussocks up to 1.5 metres wide, with a thick rootstock and a fibrous root system up to 2 metres deep that spreads laterally for up to 3.5 metres[].
The edible seeds are often gathered in quantity from the wild for local use, though they are seen more as a food to be used in times of shortage[]. The plant is extremely drought-resistant, and with its clear value to peoples on marginal subsistence it ought to be subjected to selection for improved strains to be brought into cultivation[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Northern Africa - Morocco to Somalia, eastern Mediterranean, Arabian Peninsula to Pakistan.

Habitat

Dry sandy soils[]. Sandy deserts and semi-deserts, on dunes and seashores, and in sandy pockets in rocky outcrops, at elevations up to 3,200 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Perennial
Height	1.50 m
Pollinators	Wind
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the arid tropics and subtropics where it is found at elevations up to 3,200 metres[]. The plant grows best in areas where the mean annual temperature is within the range 25 - 35°c, but can tolerate 8 - 40°c[]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 200 - 400mm, tolerating 100 - 600mm[].
Requires a sunny position and a very well-drained soil[]. Prefers a light to medium soil and is tolerant of poor soils and saline soils[, ]. The plant is extremely drought resistant[]. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 7, but tolerates 6 - 8[].
In dry areas the dormant buds sprout rapidly after the onset of the rainy season and the plants stay green over a very extended period, with flowering occurring towards the end of the rainy season and during the early part of the dry season[].
The seeds are difficult to harvest in quantity because they mature at different times over an extended period, shatter easily and are often eaten by birds[].
The plant photosynthesize by a more efficient method than most plants. Called the 'C4 carbon-fixation pathway', this process is particularly efficient at high temperatures, in bright sunlight and under dry conditions[].
A collection of 42 accessions of Panicum turgidum is held at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. High grain-yielding types are particularly found in the Middle East[].

Edible Uses

Seed - eaten as a soup or ground into a flour and used to make a bread or a porridge[]. The grain may also be stored against a time of scarcity[]. In times of dearth, people raid ants nests to obtain the grain the ants have stored[].

Young shoots - a sweet flavour[].

The burnt, powdered roots produce a sort of soda which some people add to a tobacco quid[].

Medicinal

Old culms, dried and powdered, are used as a wound-dressing[]. The root is carried by female marabouts (religious teachers) in Mauritania for corporal punishment of wayward pupils[].

The seed is said to be antidiabetic[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant produces long deep-penetrating and quick growing-roots which on sand-dunes act to bind the sand[]. It is common on the Sahel steppes, and in parts of Niger (Agedes area) it forms near pure stands on sand-patches. In Sudan it is dominant on locust laying-ground and serves as food for the young insects[].

Other Uses

The stiff straw is commonly woven into mats, baskets and cordage, and is also used for thatching[, ].

The culms are used in desert areas as firewood[].

Propagation

Seed - it does not germinate below 15°c[]. Surface sow, or only just cover, in a very well-drained medium but ensure the seed does not dry out. Germination is best at 25 - 35°c[]. Transplanting of seedlings is possible[].
Natural reproduction of Panicum turgidum is mainly vegetatively by stolons[].
Division of self-layered plants[].

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