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Urochloa
Also called Signal Grass, Signal Grasses, Signalgrasses
Signalgrass (Urochloa) is a genus of tropical and subtropical grasses in the Poaceae family, mostly grown as forage for livestock rather than as ornamentals. Several species are cultivated, and some, such as broadleaf signalgrass, can become weeds.
Urochloa, commonly known as signalgrass, is a genus of plants in the grass family, native to tropical and subtropical regions of Eurasia, Africa, Australia, the Americas, and various islands.
Several species of the genus Urochloa are cultivated as forage and some species of were probably first introduced unintentionally to the Americas in the colonial period, from slave ships. Urochloa eminii was introduced to Brazil in 1952. Urochloa is the most widely used tropical grass in Central and South America, with about 40 million hectares planted in Brazil alone.
Urochloa is the single most important genus of forage grass for pastures in the tropics. Urochloa cultivars can grow in infertile and acidic soils. Brazil is the leading user and producer of Urochloa seeds in the Americas.
Mexico has put effort into improving its trade in Urochloa cultivars, and the grass is thought to have made a positive impact on its milk and beef industries. Central American countries have also increased seed sales and area planted in the grass. The annual growth rate of seed sales in 2009 was 32% in Mexico, 62% in Honduras, 45% in Nicaragua, 39% in Costa Rica, and 54% in Panama. The area planted with Urochloa during this period was about 6.5% of the total surface of permanent grasses in Mexico, 12.5% in Honduras, 1% in Nicaragua, 18.7% in Costa Rica, and 0.1% in Panama.
Urochloa species can grow in many environments, from swamps to shady forest to semidesert, but generally do best in savannas and other open tropical ecosystems such as in East Africa. In Angola, Urochloa brizantha grows on termite mounds and in the ecotone between grassland and woodland habitat. In the Kora National Reserve in Kenya, Urochloa species dominate the ground layer along with those of the genus Aristida. In India, the native Urochloa ramosa is an important food source for the Eurasian collared dove and Urochloa species are forage for other local herbivores.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Urochloa 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.
