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Cenchrus
Also called Sandburs, Fountaingrass, Kikuyu Grass, Kikuyugrass, Sand Spur, Fountain Grasses, Sandburs And Fountain Grasses
In Singapore: Purple Fountain Grass, Red Fountain Grass, Rose Fountain Grass (Grown in Singapore)
Cenchrus is a genus of annual and perennial grasses in the grass family, including sandburs and fountaingrasses, with spiny burr-like seed heads. Members range from small plants to stems up to 8 m tall, and several are grown as ornamentals.
Cenchrus is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. Its species are native to many countries in Asia, Africa, Australia, the Americas, and various oceanic islands.
Common names include buffelgrasses, sandburs, and sand spur. Such names allude to the sharp, spine-covered burrs characterizing the inflorescences of the members of the genus. Those previously classified as Pennisetum are known commonly as fountaingrasses (fountain grasses).
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.
The genus includes pearl millet (P. glaucum), an important food crop. Napier grass (P. purpureum) is used for grazing livestock in Africa.
Pearl millet · Indian sandbur · Buffel grass · Kikuyugrass · Southern sandbur · Mat sandbur · Oriental Fountain Grass · Annual Mission Grass · Elephant Grass · Cenchrus riparius · Crimson Fountaingrass · Birdwood grass
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cenchrus 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.
