Peduncle glabrous, or pilose above. Racemes 5-6, digitate, erect, incurved, unilateral, 5 cm long. Rachis without wing, flattened. Spikelet packing broadside to rachis,
crowded, regular, 2-rowed. Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets sessile. Fertile spikelets comprising 4-8 fertile florets, with diminished florets at the apex; ovate, 7
mm long, laterally compressed, persistent. Glumes similar, shorter than spikelet. Lower glume 2 mm long, membraneous, 1-keeled, winged, 1-3-nerved; apex acute.
Upper glume 3 mm long, elliptic, membraneous, 1-keeled, winged on keel, 5-7- nerved; apex acute. Florets: fertile lemma 4 mm long, lanceolate, membraneous, 3-
nerved; apex acute. Palea as long as lemma, 2-nerved. Lodicules 2, cuneate, fleshy. Caryopsis with free soft pericarp, orbicular, 2 mm long, rugose.
Notes
Found in Northern and Central Europe, North Africa, Western Asia, Arabia, China, India, Indo-China, Malesia, Australia, and Pasific. Flour used for treatment or
chicken-pox, grain rather unpalatable but highly nutritious, grains eaten by baboons, widely grown in warm regions of Africa and Asia, recommended for diabetics, this
plants reported to be diaphoretic, diuretic, and vermifuge. Usefull for erosion control. Distribution at Sulawesi.
South: Mt. Bonthain, Alt. 1800 m.
Habitat
Disturbed soils, in highland and lowland, in dry areas, in savannah areas with moderate rainfall.
Specimen examined
Bunnemeijer 12286 BO.
34.2. Eleusine indica L. Gaertn. Fruct. Sem. Pl. 1: 8. 1788.
Chloris repens Steud. Nomencl. Bot. ed. 2 1: 353. 1840. Cynodon indicus L. Raspail. Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot. 5: 303. 1825.
Eleusine marginata Lindl. Three Exped. Australia 21: 315. 1838. Eleusine scabra E. Fourn. Bull. Soc. Bot. France 27: 296. 1880.
Eleusine textilis Welw. J. Travel Nat. Hist. 1: 31. 1868. Juncus bulbosus L. Sp. Pl. 1: 327-328. 1753.
Triticum geminatum Spreng. Syst. Veg. ed. decima sexta 1: 326. 1825.
Plants annual, caespitose. Culms 12-25 cm long, thick 2 mm long, strongly rooted, with erect to geniculate and ascending, keeled-compressed. Nodes glabrous;
internodes glabrous. Sheaths slender, with tubercle-base hairs along visible margins. Ligule up to 1 mm long a membrane with a prominent tuft of hairs on the auricles.
Blades 4–18 cm long by 2–4 mm long, base hairy. Inflorescence, with 3–10 secund
spikes, 2–13 cm long, subdigitately arranged at the end of the culms; rachis wingless, flattened, the spikelets attached alternately on either side of it. Spikelets 2–5 mm long
by 2 mm long, glabrous, flat, 4–6-flowered, upper 1 or 2 florets male only. Lower glume 1–2 mm long, lanceolate-acute, keeled and folded, 1-nerved. Upper glume 2–4
mm long, ovate-acute, keeled and folded, 1–3-nerved. Lemma as long as upper glume, ovate-acute, keeled and folded. Palea slightly shorter than lemma, narrowly ovate
between the 2 nerves, tip bifid, margins infolded. Stamens 3. Anthers 0.4 mm long; ovary ovoid. Lodicule cuneate. Caryopsis free within pericarp, 1 mm long, rugose,
ovoid, sharp pointed at one end.
Notes
Found in Northern and Southwestern Europe, North Africa, Arabia, China, India, Indo-China, Malesia, Australia, Pasific, North and South America. Infusion of
macerated leaves drunk as a remedy for urine retention, infusion eases vaginal bleeding, used as a flour for bread or soup in times of scarcity, a very strong and
particularly tough fibrous root system, generally unpalatable to stock, eaten when young, when mature foliage is very tough, cyanogenic or HCN toxic, can be poison to
stock, has been recorded as causing the deaths of the calves and sheep. Distribution at Sulawesi
North: Manado, Alt. c. 25 m; Dumoga Bone National Park, Toraut Dam, Alt. 220 m, 0
34’ N 123 54’E; Gorontalo. Southeast: Kendari, Poehara, Alt. 50 m; Buton
Island, Bau-Bau, Alt. 50 m. Central: Palu, 0 30’-1
30’ S 120 30’ E; Mt. Nokilalaki,
Alt. c. 1000 m. South: Bonto Parang, Alt. 50 m; Boeloe Parigi bij Tanette, Alt. 560 m; G. Papandangan; Makasar, Alt. c. 10 m; Enrekang, Rantelemo, Alt. 1160.
Habitat
Sunny or slightly shaded; grassland seasonally flooded; gravel-banks in and along the river.
Specimen examined
Kjellberg 114, 758 BO; Hennipman 5031, 5033 BO; Bunnemeijer 10652 , 12509 BO; Vuuren Rachmat 400 BO; Beguin 28, 51 BO; PTU 21 BO; leg.
ign. 1 BO; Eyma 438 BO; de Vogel Vermeulen 6846 BO. 36.
ERAGROSTIS N.M. Wolf. Type: Eragrostis minor Host. Icon. Descr. Gram.
Austriac. 4: 15. 1809; Gen. Pl. 23. 1776; Acta Bot. Neerl. 15: 157. 1966. Acamptoclados Nash. Fl. S.E. U.S. 139, 1327. 1903.
Boriskellera Terechov. Del. Sem. Hort. Reg. Bot. Kujbyshev 13. 1938. Diandrochloa De Winter. Bothalia 72: 388-389. 1960.
Exagrostis Steud. Nomencl. Bot. ed. 2 1: 622. 1840. Stiburus Stapf. Fl. Cap. 74: 696-697. 1900.
From the Greek eros “love” and agrostis, agrostidos agros “a field, country” “grass, weed, couch grass”.
About 350 cosmopolitan species, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia, Pasific, North and South America. Plant annual and perennial bunchgrass, erect, usually
herbaceous or sometimes shrubby or woody and persistent, delicate, wiry or canelike, slender, sometimes decumbent, usually caespitose, forming tussocks or spreading
clumps, rhizomatous or stoloniferous. Auricles absent. Ligule a line of hairs. sheaths glandular. Blades linear and finely acuminate. Plants perfect-flowered or dioecious,
chasmogamous or cleistogamous. Inflorescence open or contracted, a compound panicle or false spike exserted or partially included in upper sheath. Rachilla fragile or
tough, bisexual and compressed laterally spikelets. Spikelets disarticulating at maturity or disarticulation commencing at the base of spikelet or spikelets falling
entire. Florets few to many; floret bisexual or the upper sterile and reduced. Glumes more or less equal, often early deciduous; glabrous entire lemma; lemmas 3-nerved
awnless or mucronate or acute-tipped. Lodicule usually present and when present 2 free and fleshy. Stamens 1-3. Ovary glabrous. Stigmas 2, plumose.
Ornamental, showy and decorative branched inflorescences, used for reseeding denuded land, some species may naturalize readily, soil binder, planted to stabilize
soil, weedy species, cultivated fodder, drought resistant, more or less unpalatable, native pasture species, grain crop species, more or less glandular and aromatic,
disturbed ground, sandy or poor soils, grasslands, rainforest, open habitats.
Key to the Species
1.a. Plants perennial ………………………………………………………………2 b. Plants annual …………………………………………………………………6
2.a. Lower glume ovate …………………………………………………………..3 b. Lower glume lanceolate ……………………………………………………..4
3.a. Upper glume 0.7 times length of the adjacent lemma, apex acute …………… …………………………………………………...36.2. Eragrostis atrovirens
b. Upper glume 0.5 times length of the adjacent lemma, apex acuminate ……… ……………………………………………………...36.3. Eragrostis brownii
4.a. Upper glume with 3-nerved ………………………36.5. Eragrostis cumingii b. Upper glume with 1-nerved ………………………………………………….5
5.a. Lemma up to 3 mm long, ovate or lanceolate, apex acuminate ……………… …………………………………………………...36.8. Eragrostis lasioclada
b. Lemma up to 2.5 mm long, elliptic or oblong, apex obtuse …………….......... ………………………………………………….36.11. Eragrostis tenuifolia
6.a. Glumes similar ……………………………………………………………….8 b. Glumes dissimilar ……………………………………………………………7
7.a. Culms tufted, erect; ligule a ciliolate rim; panicle contracted to interrupted,
lowermost branches solitary to fascicled; paleas long-persistent; caryopsis fusiform …………………………………………..36.6. Eragrostis dyskrytos
b. Culms tufted, geniculate, with new shoots at the nodes, not rooting; ligule a fringe of hairs; panicle lax, lowermost branches whorled; paleas caducuous;
caryopsis ellipsoid ………………………………….36.10. Eragrostis pilosa
8.a. Lower glume lanceolate ……………………………………………………..9 b. Lower glume ovate …………………………………………………………10
9.a. Lemma boat-shaped, the two lateral nerves raised and prominent …………… ………………………………………………….36.12. Eragrostis unioloides
b. Lemma elliptic, lateral nerves close to margins ..36.13. Eragrostis warburgii 10.a. Anthers 2 ………………………………………..36.4. Eragrostis cilianensis
b. Anthers 3 …………………………………………………………………...11 11.a. Culms hollow …………………………………….36.7. Eragrostis japonica
b. Culms not hollow …………………………………………………………..12 12.a Sheaths hairy near the blade; palea keels ciliate ….36.1. Eragrostis amabilis
b. Sheaths with scattered nodular hair; palea keels scabrous …. ………………………………………………………..36.9. Eragrostis minor
36.1.
Eragrostis amabilis L. Wight Arn. ex Nees. Cat. Indian Pl. 1834: no.
1777. 1834; Blumea 471: 157-204. 2002. Cynodon amabilis L. Raspail. Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot. 5: 302. 1825.
Eragrostis mangalorica Hochst. ex Steud. Syn. Pl. Glumac. 1:265. 1854. Eragrostis plumose Retz. Link. Hort. Berol. 1: 192. 1827.
Eragrostis tenella L. P. Beauv. ex Roem. Schult. Syst. Veg. 2: 576. 1817. Eragrostis viscose Retz. Trin. Mem. Acad. Imp. Sci. St.-Petersbourg, Ser. 6,
Sci. Math. 14: 397. 1830. Megastachya amabilis L. P. Beauv. Ess. Agrostogr. 74, 167, 173. 1812.
Poa amabilis L. Sp. Pl. 1: 68-69. 1753.
Plants annual, caespitose. Culms 8-40 cm long, erect to spreading, or decumbent, branced, glabrous. Sheaths hairy bear the blade. Ligule a fringe of hairs.
Blades 3-8 cm by 1-3 mm. Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle open, linear, 3-10 cm long; primary branches spreading, glandular, without exudate, glabrous in axils.
Spikelets solitary; fertile spikelets pedicelled; comprising 4-8 fertile florets, with diminished florets at the apex; ovate, laterally compressed, 1.5-2.5 mm long, breaking
up at maturity, disarticulating below each fertile floret. Rhachilla internodes definite. Glumes similar, deciduous, shorter than spikelet. Lower glume ovate, up to 1 mm
long, as long as upper glume, 1 keeled, 1-nerved; lateral nerves absent. Upper glume ovate, 0.9 times length of adjacent fertile lemma, 1-keeled, 1-nerved; lateral nerves
absent, apex acute. Florets: fertile lemma oblong, up to 1 mm long, membraneous, keeled, 3-nerved, midnerve without distinctive roughness; lemma apex abtuse. Palea
keels ciliate. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped. Anthers 3, 0.3 mm long. Caryopsis with adherent pericarp, ellipsoid, 0.5 mm long.
Notes
Found in North Africa, Western Asia, Arabia, Eastern Asia, India, Pasific, United States, Mexico, Mesoamericana, and Brazil.
Distribution at Sulawesi
North: Manado, Alt. 0 m, 30; Mt. Ambang, Alt. 1375 m; ; Bitung, Makawidei; Gorontalo. Central: Toboli; Palu, Alt. 5 m. South: Takalar, Alt. 5m. Southeast:
Salayar Islands, Tg. Jampea Island; Buton Island, Bau Bau, Alt. 0 m. Habitat
A weed species common in open areas, dry forests, along roadsides, sandy fields.
Specimen examined
Kjellberg 35 BO; Leeuwen 1607 BO; Alston 15988 BO; Koorders 17245 ß, 17246 ß, 17247 ß, 17248 ß, 17249 ß BO; Beguin 57 BO; Kurniawan 123 WALL,
Papa 336 WALL; Lasut 169, 932 WALL. 36.2.
Eragrostis atrovirens Desf. Trin. ex Steud. Nomencl. Bot. ed.2 1:562.
1840. Eragrostis biformis Kunth Benth. Niger Fl. 568. 1849.
Eragrostis chariis Schult. Hitch. Lingnan Sci. J. 7: 193. 1929. Eragrostis chloromelas Steud. Syn. Pl. Glumac. 1: 271. 1854.
Eragrostis elegantula Kunth Nees ex Steud. Syn. Pl. Glumac. 1: 266. 1854. Eragrostis inamoena K. Schum. Pflanzenw. Ost-Afrikas 115. 1895.
Poa atrovirens Desf. Fl. Atlant. 1: 73, pl. 14. 1798.
Plants perennial, caespitose, tufted, without rhizomes. Culms 25-55 cm long, erect to geniculate, glabrous. Sheaths purplish, glabrous. Ligule a fringe of hairs.
Blades 12-22 cm by 1-3 mm. Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle open, oblong, 3-30 cm long, contracted about ascending primary branches. Spikelets solitary. Fertile
spikelets pedicelled, comprising 5-35 fertile florets, with diminished florets at apex;
spikelets oblong, laterally compressed, 2-16 mm long, breaking up at maturity, rhachilla persistent, shedding paleas. Rhachilla internodes eventually visible between
lemmas. Glumes similar, deciduous, shorter than spikelet. Lower glume ovate, up to 1.5 mm long, as long as upper glume, 1-keeled, 1 nerved; lateral nerves absent, apex
acute. Upper glume ovate, 0.7 times length of adjacent lemma, 1-keeled, 1-nerved, apex acute. Florets: fertile florets divergent, free at the tip; fertile lemma ovate, up to
2 mm long, membraneous, keeled, 3-nerved; surface asperulous, apex acute. Palea narrow with margins infolded, keels scaberulous. Apical sterile florets resembling
fertile though underdeveloped. Anthers 3, 0.8 mm long. Caryopsis with adherent pericarp, ellipsoid, 0.6 mm long.
Notes
Found in North and West Africa, China, India, Indo-China, and Malesia, Australia, Pasific, Mexico, and South America. Grain eaten by birds, good fodder,
grazed by all stock, low to medium grazing value. Distribution at Sulawesi
Central: Toli-Toli, Mt. Gindopo, Alt. 200m. South: Makassar, Alt. 80 m.
Habitat
Growing in open pasture, hill forest, wet sites, pond, marshes, along roadsides, clay and sandy soils, swamps, streams.
Specimen examined
Ramlanto Fanani 647 BO; Papa 324 WALL.
36.3. Eragrostis brownii Kunth Nees ex Steud. Nomencl. Bot. ed. 2 1: 562.
