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Species
Cenchrus ciliaris L.
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
The literature contains little information on native buffelgrass habitat types
and plant communities. In Kenya [8] and India [58], buffelgrass occurs in
grasslands. In Botswana [40,41], buffelgrass occurs in savannas with
feather fingergrass (Chloris virgata), hooked bristlegrass (Setaria
verticillata), spiked bur grass (Tragus berteronianus), soft feather
pappusgrass (Enneapogon cenchroides), curlyleaf (Eragrostis
rigidior), guineagrass (Urochloa maxima), and African liverseed grass
(U. mosambicensis) [41].
In North America, buffelgrass is most prominent in the Sonoran
Desert of southern Arizona and northern Mexico [19,43,77,111,124,125,126],
and the Chihuahuan Desert of southwestern Texas [62,64,94]. It also occurs in the dry lands
of Hawaii [117,126,133]. Although some authors indicate that buffelgrass
occurs in Oklahoma [128], Missouri, New York, Puerto Rico [82,128],
California [71], and Florida [139,141], no information is available
regarding native habitats in which it occurs in these areas.
Buffelgrass occurs in desert and thornscrub communities in southern Arizona
and northern Mexico. It occurs in communities dominated by brittle bush
(Encelia farinosa), acacia (Acacia spp.), Arizona mimosa
(Mimosa distachya var. laxiflora), honey mesquite
(Prosopis glandulosa var. glandulosa) creosotebush
(Larrea tridentata), saltbush (Atriplex spp.), bursage
(Ambrosia spp.), desert ironwood (Olneya tesota),
yellow paloverde (Parkinsonia microphylla), and/or saguaro (Carnegiea
gigantea) [19,43,77,111,124,125,126].
In the desert of southwestern Texas, buffelgrass is common in mesquite (Prosopis spp.)-acacia communities
and in cultivated buffelgrass pastures [62,64,94].
In Hawaii, buffelgrass
occurs in coastal dry forests on all the main islands and is an understory
dominant with fingergrass (Chloris spp.) in nonnative kiawe
(Prosopis pallida) forests. It also occurs in 'ohai (Sesbania tomentosa)
dry shrublands [133], and dry grasslands dominated by native pili grass
(Heteropogon contortus) and/or nonnative thatching grass (Hyparrhenia rufa) [87,133].
7.5 Plasticidad ambiental y tolerancia
No tolera el exceso de humedad ni inundaciones. Tolera pH de 6.0 a 8.5, tolerancia a la salinidad media y a la sequía alta. Es extremadamente resistente al fuego y responde a las quemas (Cantú-Brito. 2006; Chambers &Hawkins, 2004; Langer &Hill, 1991).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ |
Rights holder/Author | CONABIO |
Source | No source database. |
African Foxtail Grass, Blue Buffalo Grass or Buffet Grass in a valuable fodder grass, especially for hay. It is also said to be a useful lawn grass.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=242311755 |
3.4 Hábitat- SNIB - CONABIO, 2007
Habita a lo largo de caminos y en lotes baldíos (Villegas et al., 1998; Chambers &Hawkins, 2004).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ |
Rights holder/Author | CONABIO |
Source | No source database. |
More info on this topic.
Buffelgrass is a warm season plant [78]. It starts growing in late winter and flowers from spring through fall [25,121]. In Florida, buffelgrass grows year-round and flowers from July to October [59]. In Texas, under "favorable" growing conditions, buffelgrass sets seed from early spring until late fall [56]. Leaf growth typically begins when mean minimum temperatures rise to about 50 °F (10 °C), but stem growth occurs only when minimum temperatures are between 59 to 70 °F (15-20 °C) and mean maximum temperatures are below 100 °F (40 °C) [26,30,78]. Buffelgrass responds quickly to spring precipitation and "erratic" desert rainfall events in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico [50], particularly when soil temperatures are above 75 °F (24 °C). It also grows vigorously after fall rains. Little buffelgrass growth occurs during dry summer and winter months [53,66].
United States
Origin: Exotic
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Currently: Unknown/Undetermined
Confidence: Confident
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Pennisetum+ciliare |
Desert wadis and areas of cultivation.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Bibliotheca Alexandrina, BA Cultnat, Bibliotheca Alexandrina - EOL Ar |
Source | http://lifedesk.bibalex.org/ba/pages/2300 |
Fl. & Fr. Per.: February-March.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=242311755 |
The scientific name of buffelgrass is Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link (Poaceae) [3,37,48,73,82,83]. There are 2 accepted varieties [80,82]:
Pennisetum ciliare var. ciliare (L.) Link
Pennisetum ciliare var. setigerum (Vahl) Leeke, cow sandbur
As an introduced forage plant, there are numerous buffelgrass cultivars available
in North America [9,101,126], which vary in reproductive and morphological
characteristics [126,131]. Most of these cultivars were derived from the strain
first introduced to and most common in North America, 'T-4464'. This strain is
referred to as "common buffelgrass" in this review [110].
Most of the literature included in this review does not identify buffelgrass
by cultivar or strain. Therefore, in this review, "buffelgrass" refers to the
species in general. Cultivars, when identified as such in the literature, will
be referred to by cultivar name in single quotation marks (e.g., 'Llano').