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Setaria sphacelata
Also called African Bristle Grass, Creeping Bristle Grass, False Bristle Grass, Golden Timothy, South African Pigeon Grass
Setaria sphacelata is a tall, rhizomatous perennial grass from tropical and southern Africa, grown widely as pasture and cut fodder. It needs warm conditions and full sun, and it spreads readily from its rhizomes.
Setaria sphacelata is a tall African grass, also known as South African pigeon grass and African bristlegrass. It is native to tropical and subtropical Africa, and is extensively cultivated globally as a pasture grass and for cut fodder. This is a rhizomatous perennial grass producing flattened, hairless, blue-green stems up to 2 m tall. The inflorescence is a dense, narrow panicle of bristly, orange-tinged spikelets up to 25 cm long.
In Africa, Setaria sphacelata seed heads are an important food source for several bird species, including the long-tailed widowbird.
Japanese bristlegrass · Foxtail millet · Palmgrass · Yellow foxtail · Hooked bristlegrass · Green bristlegrass · Bristlegrass
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Setaria sphacelata 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.
