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Crowfoot Grass

Desmostachya bipinnata

Also called Halfa Grass

Crowfoot Grass
Photo: Blondeau, Alexandre; Fourier, Jean Baptiste Joseph; France.; France.; France.; Institut d'Egypte (1798-1801); Jacotin, P, Public domain

Desmostachya bipinnata, known as halfa or crowfoot grass, is a tall, tufted perennial grass of dry tropical and subtropical regions across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. It is hardy and drought tolerant, but is rarely grown as an ornamental and is more often a weed in crops such as wheat.

Family
Poaceae (Grass family)
Grows as
Grass, Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Needs little water once established; water sparingly during dry spells.
Soil
Tolerates poor, sandy, saline or alkaline soils with good drainage.
Temperature
Hot, seasonally dry conditions; tolerates heat and drought, cold tolerance limited, protect from frost.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Sahara to Tanzania and Indo-China
Climate
seasonally dry tropical

About

Desmostachya bipinnata, commonly known as halfa grass, big cordgrass, and salt reed-grass, is an Old World perennial grass, long known and used in human history. The grass is tall, tufted, leafy, perennial grass, branching from the base, erect from a stout creeping rootstock.

Where it grows

Desmostachya bipinnata is native to northeast and west tropical, and northern Africa (in Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia); and countries in the Middle East, and temperate and tropical Asia (in Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand).

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Desmostachya bipinnata 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.

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