Code
BRAHU
Growth form
Grass
Biological cycle
Vivacious
Habitat
Terrestrial / Marshland
synonym | Brachiaria dictyoneura subsp. humidicola (Rendle) Catasús |
synonym | Brachiaria humidicola (Rendle) Schweick. |
synonym | Brachiaria keniensis Henrard |
synonym | Brachiaria obvoluta Stapf |
synonym | Brachiaria rautanenii (Hack.) Stapf |
synonym | Panicum albovellereum K.Schum. ex Engl. |
synonym | Panicum dictyoneurum Fig. & De Not. |
synonym | Panicum golae Chiov. |
synonym | Panicum humidicola Rendle |
synonym | Panicum rautanenii Hack. |
synonym | Panicum vexillare Peter |
synonym | Urochloa dictyoneura (Fig. & De Not.) Veldkamp |
synonym | Urochloa humidicola (Rendle) Morrone & Zuloaga |
English |
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Portuguese |
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Spanish; Castilian |
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Thai |
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Global description
Brachiaria dictyoneura is a vivacious grass with stolons and rhizomes, without rooting from the lower nodes. The culms are geniculate ascending or decumbent. The ligule is ciliated. The leaf blade is linear or lanceolate. The inflorescence is composed of a few one-sided racemes. The spikelets are solitary and elliptical, slightly compressed dorsally on the raceme.
First leaves
Seedlings are very rare. Le leaf blade of seedling is wider than adult leaves. The prefoliation is rolled.
General habit
Brachiaria dictyoneura is a stoloniferous and rhizomatous vivacious grass, growing up to 100 cm high.
Underground system
Fasciculated roots and stolons. There are no nodal roots or lower node rooting. There are two types of rhizomes. Short rhizomes giving rise to nearby stems (cespitose development) and thin, long rhizomes giving rise to new plants at a distance from the first clump.
Culm
Culms are geniculate ascending, or decumbent, sub-cylindrical, reaching 40 to 100 cm in length.
Leaf
The sheath is cylindrical, with a glabrous surface and margin, shorter than the corresponding internode. The ligule is ciliated, 0.5 mm high. The leaf blade can have two forms:
- The blade of new individuals from stolons or rhizomes is lanceolate, 10 mm wide.
- The leaf blade of older, fully grown individuals is linear to narrowly lanceolate, 10-30 cm long and 3-5 mm wide, with a trough-shaped and relatively rigid section. The base is straight, the apex long tapering to a point, the margin entire or finely serrated, both sides glabrous and light green.
Inflorescence
The inflorescence is a simple panicle, 8-10 cm long, composed of 2-3(-4) racemes 2-7 cm long, borne unilaterally along a central axis 2-13 cm long, which extends slightly above the last raceme. The rachis is trigonal or narrowly winged, angular, 1 mm wide and finely denticulate. Slight pubescence at the base of each raceme.
Spikelet
The spikelet arrangement is adaxial and regular in 2 rows. Spikelets are solitary, elliptic, sub-sessile with a few hairs at the base of the pedicel, elliptic-oval, slightly compressed dorsally, sub-acute, 4-6 mm long, pubescent or rarely glabrous. Each spikelet has 1 basal sterile and 1 upper fertile flower, without extension of the rachillet. The internodes of the rachillet are elongated between the glumes.
The glumes are similar, 0.75-1 times the length of the spikelet, oblong, membranous, without a carina, pubescent or hairless, obtuse at the apex. The lower glume has 11 veins while the upper glume has 5-9 veins.
The basal sterile floret is male. The lemma is similar to the upper glume, the same length as the spikelet, oblong, membranous, 5-veined and cross-veined, glabrous or pubescent, obtuse. The palea is present, hyaline. The upper floret is fertile, with an elliptic lemma, 3.5-5.5 mm long, indurated, without a carina. The surface of the lemma is papillose. The margins of the lemma are enveloping, the apex is obtuse or acute. The palea is involuted, indurated, without a carina.
At maturity the spikelet is falling entire.
Grain
The grain is obovate, light-coloured.
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Brachiaria dictyoneura is a vivacious grass that multiplies mainly vegetatively. Individuals form a clump that increases in size by the emission of new stems from short rhizomes, and new individuals are produced by stolons and long rhizomes. Seeds are also produced, but seedlings are rare.
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Some authors have distinguished Brachiaria dictyoneura from B. humidicola on the basis of the following characters:
- Brachiaria dictyoneura is cespitose, non-stoloniferous, with 4-5 racemes, spikelets 6-7 mm long and a well-marked collar at the junction of the blade and the sheath (abaxial side). Chromosomes 2n = 42.
- Brachiaria humidicola is stoloniferous but not cespitose, with only 2 to 3 racemes bearing small spikelets 3.8 to 5 mm long, and the junction of the blade and sheath (abaxial side) without a marked collar. Chromosomes 2n = 72.
Recent studies on many specimens show that there are all intermediate stages between these two forms, which are interfertile. We consider here only B. dictyoneura as an accepted name and B. humidicola as a synonym.
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Brachiaria dictyoneura is a C4 species.
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Brazil: Brachiaria dictyoneura is an exotic species. It grows preferentially in humid places on clay or sandy-clay soil.
French Guiana: B. dictyoneura is an exotic species widely used as a fodder species adapting locally to any type of ecological conditions provided that the place is humid.
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Toxicity: Brachiaria dictyoneura significantly accumulates soluble oxalates which combine with calcium in the animals' bodies, forming insoluble calcium oxalates. This causes calcium deficiency. This deficiency can affect growing animals, dairy cows and particularly sensitive horses.
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Origin
Brachiaria dictyoneura is native to Central (Nigeria) and Eastern Africa.
Worldwide distribution
This species has been widely introduced as a forage species in the USA (Florida), the Caribbean, tropical Central and South America, as well as in Asia (Laos, New Guinea), Australia and the south-west Pacific (Fiji, Solomon Islands).
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Local harmfulness
French Guiana: Brachiaria dictyoneura tends to escape from pastures and can become a weed locally for other crops, such as market gardening or fruit growing.
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Agronomic: Brachiaria dictyoneura is widely used as a forage plant in Brazil and French Guiana, where it has replaced Urochloa eminii which was more susceptible to leafhopper attacks. In French Guiana it is present in 70% of pastures as the main forage plant.
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Herbarium pictures ReCOLNAT: https://explore.recolnat.org/search/botanique/simplequery=Brachiaria%2520dictyoneura
Herbarium pictures ReCOLNAT: https://explore.recolnat.org/search/botanique/simplequery=Brachiaria%2520humidicola
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Root | Root |
Kingdom | Plantae |
Phylum | Tracheophyta |
Class | Liliopsida |
Order | Poales |
Family | Poaceae |
Genus | Brachiaria |
Species | Brachiaria dictyoneura (Fig. & De Not.) Stapf |