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Andropogon gayanus
Also called Tambuki Grass, Gamba Grass, Blue Grass
Andropogon gayanus is a tall, tufting perennial bunchgrass native to African savannas, grown mainly as pasture and sometimes invasive where disturbed. It thrives in hot climates with a long dry season and is very drought-tolerant.
Andropogon gayanus, commonly known as gamba grass, Rhodesian blue grass, tambuki grass, and other names, is a species of grass native to most of the tropical and subtropical savannas of Africa.
The grass is native to most of the tropical and subtropical savannas of Africa, also extending southwards into Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa in regions with long dry seasons. It occurs naturally in xerophytic grasslands on doleritic, sandy or clay soils, at altitudes of up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft), and is very drought-tolerant. However it does not do well where mean minimum temperatures dip below 4.4 degrees Celsius, and it is not frost-tolerant. It has also been introduced around the world as a pasture crop in Australia and Brazil.
A. gayanus was introduced as a pasture crop in many parts of the world, including Australia, tropical countries of the Americas, as well as naturalising in Brazil It has also been introduced in Nigeria to reclaim land that has been overgrazed.
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Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Andropogon gayanus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
