Pennisetum

Updated on Jan 30, 2024

Edit

Comment

Kingdom Plantae Family Poaceae Tribe Paniceae Higher classification Grasses		Order Poales Subfamily Panicoideae Scientific name Pennisetum Rank Genus

Lower classifications Fountain grass, Pennisetum alopecuroides, Pennisetum purpureum, Pearl millet, Kikuyu grass

How to grow pennisetum variegated red fountain grass fireworks dramatic intense color all season

Pennisetum /ˌpɛnᵻˈsiːtəm/ is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. They are known commonly as fountaingrasses.

Pennisetum 17 Best ideas about Pennisetum Setaceum on Pinterest Provence

Riverbend nursery plant premiere pennisetum rubrum 1

Systematics

Pennisetum How to overwinter Pennisetum setaceum 39Rubrum39 Laidback Gardener

Pennisetum is closely related to the genus Cenchrus, and the boundary between them is unclear. Cenchrus was derived from Pennisetum and the two are grouped in a monophyletic clade. Some species now in Pennisetum were once members of Cenchrus, and some have been moved back. A main morphological character used to distinguish them is the degree of fusion of the bristles in the inflorescence, but this is often unreliable. Authors recently proposed to transfer Pennisetum into Cenchrus, along with the related genus Odontelytrum.

Description

Pennisetum Pennisetum setaceum Rubrum Lavender Fountain Grass hardy to 20

As currently envisioned, Pennisetum is a genus of 80 to 140 species. The various species are native to Africa, Asia, Australia, and Latin America, with some of them widely naturalized in Europe and North America, as well as on various oceanic islands.

Pennisetum hoffmannurserycomassetsfilesimagesPopularPen

They are annual or perennial grasses. Some are petite while others can produce stems up to 8 meters tall. The inflorescence is a very dense, narrow panicle containing fascicles of spikelets interspersed with bristles. There are three kinds of bristle, and some species have all three, while others do not. Some bristles are coated in hairs, sometimes long, showy, plumelike hairs that inspired the genus name, the Latin penna ("feather") and seta ("bristle").

Uses

Pennisetum alopecuroides 39Hameln39 Dwarf Fountain Grass

The genus includes pearl millet (P. glaucum), an important food crop. Napier grass (P. purpureum) is used for grazing livestock in Africa. African fountaingrass (P. setaceum) is used as an ornamental plant.

Ecology

Many Pennisetum grasses are noxious weeds, including kikuyu grass (P. clandestinum) and feathertop grass (P. villosum).

The herbage and seeds of these grasses are food for herbivores, such as the chestnut-breasted mannikin (Lonchura castaneothorax), the caterpillar of the butterfly Melanitis phedima, and the larvae of the fly genus Delia.

The genus is a host of the pathogenic fungus Cochliobolus sativus.

Diversity

Species

Pennisetum alopecuroides – Chinese fountaingrass, foxtail fountaingrass, swamp-foxtail – Australia, East + Southeast Asia

Pennisetum annuum – Peru

Pennisetum articulare – Marquesas

Pennisetum basedowii – Australia

Pennisetum beckeroides – Ethiopia

Pennisetum caffrum – Madagascar, Réunion

Pennisetum chilense – Chile, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia

Pennisetum clandestinum – kikuyu grass – central + eastern Africa

Pennisetum complanatum – Nicaraguan fountaingrass – Veracruz, Central America

Pennisetum crinitum – Mexico

Pennisetum × cupreum – New Guinea

Pennisetum distachyum – Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala

Pennisetum divisum – deserts from Mauritania to western India

Pennisetum domingense – Cuba, Hispaniola

Pennisetum durum – Mexico

Pennisetum exiguum – Madagascar

Pennisetum flaccidum – flaccid grass, Himalayan fountaingrass – Himalayas, Central Asia, China, Mongolia

Pennisetum flexile – Kashmir

Pennisetum foermerianum – Namibia

Pennisetum frutescens – Paraguay, Argentina

Pennisetum glaucifolium – Eritrea, Ethiopia

Pennisetum glaucum – pearl millet, bulrush millet, cattail millet, horse millet, Indian millet, yellow bristlegrass

Pennisetum gracilescens – Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan

Pennisetum henryanum – Marquesas

Pennisetum hohenackeri – Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Madagascar, India, Nepal, Pakistan

Pennisetum hordeoides – western + central Africa, India, Nepal, Myanmar

Pennisetum humile – Ethiopia

Pennisetum intectum – Peru, Ecuador

Pennisetum lanatum – Afghanistan, northern India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Nepal, Tibet

Pennisetum latifolium – Uruguay fountaingrass – South America from Colombia to Uruguay

Pennisetum laxius – Sahel in Africa

Pennisetum ledermannii – Cameroon

Pennisetum longissimum – China

Pennisetum longistylum – Eritrea, Ethiopia

Pennisetum macrostachyum – Pacific fountaingrass – Java, Borneo, Papuasia

Pennisetum macrourum – African feather grass, bedding grass, waterside-reed – Africa, Yemen, Saudi Arabia

Pennisetum massaicum – Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe

Pennisetum mezianum – Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Namibia, Limpopo

Pennisetum mildbraedii – Rwanda, Zaire, Uganda

Pennisetum monostigma – Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Cameroon, islands in Gulf of Guinea

Pennisetum montanum – Peru, Bolivia, Argentina

Pennisetum nervosum – bentspike fountaingrass – South America; naturalized in Belize, Nicaragua, Mexico, California, Texas

Pennisetum nodiflorum – central Africa

Pennisetum nubicum – Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia

Pennisetum occidentale – Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru

Pennisetum orientale – white fountaingrass, Oriental pennisetum – North Africa, Middle East, Central Asia, Indian Subcontinent

Pennisetum pauperum – Ecuador incl Galápagos

Pennisetum pedicellatum – annual kyasuwa grass, deenanth grass, hairy fountaingrass – Cape Verde, Africa, Madagascar, southern Asia from Arabia to Vietnam

Pennisetum peruvianum – Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru

Pennisetum petiolare – petioled fountaingrass – Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan

Pennisetum pirottae – Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan

Pennisetum polystachion (L.) Schult. – feather pennisetum, mission grass, thin Napier grass – Africa, southern Asia from Arabia to Vietnam, Indian Ocean islands

Pennisetum preslii – from Mexico to Peru

Pennisetum procerum – Uganda, Kenya

Pennisetum prolificum – southern Mexico

Pennisetum pseudotriticoides – Madagascar

Pennisetum pumilum – Ethiopia

Pennisetum purpureum – Napier grass, Uganda grass, elephant grass, barner grass, Merker grass – Africa, Aldabra, Arabian Pen; naturalized in parts of Asia, Australia, Americas, various islands

Pennisetum qianningense – Sichuan, Yunnan

Pennisetum ramosum – central + eastern Africa

Pennisetum rigidum – northern Argentina

Pennisetum riparium – East Africa

Pennisetum rupestre – Colombia, Peru

Pennisetum sagittatum – Peru, Bolivia

Pennisetum schweinfurthii – Ethiopia, Sudan

Pennisetum setaceum – tender fountain grass, crimson fountaingrass – northern Africa, southwestern Asia; naturalized in Australia, New Zealand, scattered places in Europe + Americas

Pennisetum shaanxiense – China

Pennisetum sichuanense – Sichuan, Yunnan

Pennisetum sieberianum – Africa

Pennisetum sphacelatum – Africa, Comoros

Pennisetum squamulatum – Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania

Pennisetum stramineum – Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Yemen, Saudi Arabia

Pennisetum tempisquense – Costa Rica

Pennisetum thulinii – Ethiopia

Pennisetum thunbergii – Africa, Yemen

Pennisetum trachyphyllum – central Africa

Pennisetum trisetum – central Africa

Pennisetum tristachyum – South America

Pennisetum uliginosum – Ethiopia

Pennisetum unisetum – Natal grass, silky grass – Africa, Yemen, Saudi Arabia

Pennisetum villosum R.Br. ex Fresen. – feathertop, long-style feathergrass, white foxtail – Africa, Yemen, Saudi Arabia; naturalized in New Zealand, Mediterranean, scattered places in Americas

Pennisetum violaceum – Sahara, Sahel

Pennisetum weberbaueri – Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru

Pennisetum yemense – Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Eritrea

formerly included

numerous species now considered better suited to other genera, primarily Cenchrus but also a few in Echinochloa and Setaria

References

Pennisetum Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA