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Dichanthium annulatum
Kleberg's bluestem is a perennial grass, mostly grown as livestock pasture and forage, especially in India. It forms a tough turf that tolerates grazing, drought, poor soils and erosion, but it spreads aggressively and can become a weed.
Dichanthium annulatum is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is commonly used as a forage for livestock.
Common names include marvel grass, Diaz bluestem, Kleberg bluestem, Hindi grass, ringed dichanthium, sheda grass, medio bluestem (var. papillosum), jargu grass, Delhi grass, vuda bluegrass, two-flowered golden-beard, Santa Barbara grass.
This is a popular pasture grass in many areas. It can be used in fields for grazing livestock, and cut for hay and silage. It is tolerant of varied soil conditions, including soils high in clay and sand, poorly drained soils, and soils that are somewhat alkaline and saline. It forms a turf that can stand up to grazing pressure. It can recover from fire and drought, but it is less tolerant of frost and shade. It does not require fertilizer but it does respond well to a small amount of supplemental nitrogen. Horses and cattle find it very palatable.
While it can aggressively outcompete many other plants, it thrives with some types of companion species, such as the grasses Bothriochloa insculpta, Dichanthium aristatum, and D. caricosum, and the legumes Medicago sativa, Stylosanthes hamata, and S. seabrana.
This grass is host to a number of fungus species, such as Balansia sclerotica, Cerebella andropogonis, Chaetostroma atrum, Cochliobolus cymbopogonis, Curvularia andropogonis, C. lunata, C. robusta, Ellisiella caudata, Jamesdicksonia obesa, Phyllachora ischaemi, Physoderma dichanthicola, Pithomyces graminicola, Puccinia cesatii, P. duthiae, P. propinqua, Sclerospora dichanthicola, Sphacelotheca annulata, S. andropogonis-annulati, Tolyposporella obesa, Uredo susica, Uromyces andropogonis-annulati, U. clignyi, and Ustilago duthiei. Most are not very destructive to the grass, but it is susceptible to ergot (Claviceps spp.).
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Dichanthium annulatum 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.
