Hyparrhenia rufa

Hyparrhenia rufa

Hyparrhenia rufa, commonly known as jaraguá grass or giant thatching grass, is a perennial grass species native to Africa. It is widely cultivated in tropical regions for purposes such as cattle fodder and thatching.

Scientific Classification:

  • Kingdom: Plantae
  • Phylum: Angiosperms
  • Class: Monocots
  • Order: Poales
  • Family: Poaceae
  • Genus: Hyparrhenia
  • Species: Hyparrhenia rufa (Nees) Stapf

Synonyms:

  • Andropogon rufus (Nees) Kunth
  • Cymbopogon rufus (Nees) Rendle
  • Sorghum rufum (Nees) Kuntze
  • Trachypogon rufus Nees

Species ID: NMP-272;wfo-0000875326;NCBI_Taxonomy ID: 167342

Common Names:

In Senegal, Hyparrhenia rufa is known in Mandinka-Bambara as bin ble (JB). In The Gambia, it is called tikole in Koranko (Glanville; JMD), nyantang furo in Mandinka-Mandinka (Macluskie), and khalan-sogo-na in Yalunka (FCD). In Sierra Leone, the Mandinka-Mandinka refer to it as tikolo-ych (FCD). In Upper Volta (Burkina Faso), the Grusi-Kasena name is uoh (Scholz). In Ghana, the Dagbani people call it zankalago (JMD). In Nigeria, the plant has several names: nal al’afin in Arabic-Shuwa (JMD), duul in Birom (LB), fono and gamare in Busa (Ward), kalawal, lemno, nyanyanga, sobarla, and wodeho in Fula-Fulfulde (JMD; Saunders), eji in Gwari (JMD), jinfi, kyara na fadama, and yamaa in Hausa (Taylor; Ward; auctt.), iidungurumi in Kambari-Salka (RB), kinditilo in Kanuri (JMD), ijinga i pupu in Tiv (JMD), and alolo in Yoruba, specifically in Ilorin (Ward).

Local Names:

Arabic-Shuwa: nal al’afin, Birom: duul, Busa (Bokobaru): fono, gamare, Fula-Fulfulde: kalawal, lemno, nyanyanga, sobarla, wodeho, Gwari: eji, Hausa: jinfi, kyara na fadama, yamaa, Kambari-Salka: iidungurumi, Kanuri: kinditilo, Tiv: ijinga i pupu, Yoruba (Ilorin): alolo.

Basic Description:

Hyparrhenia rufa is a perennial tufted grass that can grow up to 3.5 meters in height. It has tall, erect culms forming dense clumps. The leaves are linear and long, typically 30–60 cm. The inflorescence is a panicle, bearing paired racemes with awned spikelets often covered in reddish-brown hairs. It is fast-growing and known for its high biomass production.

Distribution and Habitat:

  • This species is native to tropical and southern Africa and is widely distributed in West and Central Africa, including Nigeria. It has also been introduced to the Americas, Asia, and Australia. Hyparrhenia rufa thrives in savannas, open grasslands, and disturbed areas such as roadsides. It prefers well-drained soils but is tolerant of heavy soils and occasional waterlogging.

Medicinal Properties:

  • While there is limited medicinal use directly attributed to Hyparrhenia rufa, traditional practices in Africa include using it for soil conservation, thatching, and straw. Its nutritional value as a forage plant for livestock indirectly supports health through the production of meat and milk.

Known Toxicity:

  • Hyparrhenia rufa is generally considered non-toxic and is widely used as forage for cattle and other livestock. However, under certain conditions, its dominance in an ecosystem can suppress other forage species, reducing biodiversity and potentially affecting livestock diets.

Additional Information:

  • Hyparrhenia rufa is a versatile grass species, primarily valued for its use as forage. Its resilience makes it suitable for erosion control and as a natural mulch in farming. However, in non-native areas, it can become invasive, displacing indigenous flora and altering fire regimes. This dual role of being beneficial and potentially invasive requires careful management in introduced regions.

References:

  1. Kew Science. (n.d.). Hyparrhenia rufa (Nees) Stapf. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:405583-1
  2. Tropical Forages. (n.d.). Hyparrhenia rufa. Retrieved from https://www.tropicalforages.info/text/entities/hyparrhenia_rufa.htm
  3. Useful Tropical Plants. (n.d.). Hyparrhenia rufa. Retrieved from https://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Hyparrhenia+rufa
  4. Wikipedia contributors. (2023, November 15). Hyparrhenia rufa. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyparrhenia_rufa

External links

  1. https://www.gbif.org/species/2703246
  2. https://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000875326
  3. https://www.gbif.org/species/101406514
  4. https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/10.1079/cabicompendium.27716
  5. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:405583-1
  6. https://www.feedipedia.org/node/426
  7. https://identify.plantnet.org/k-world-flora/species/Hyparrhenia%20rufa%20(Nees)%20Stapf/data

More Pictures
Compounds of Hyparrhenia rufa
References

Ogunwande, I. A., Olawore, N. O., Adeleke, K. A., Ekundayo, O., & König, W. A. (2004). Rare terpenoid esters from Hyparrhenia rufa (Nees) Stapf. growing wild in Nigeria. Flavour and fragrance journal, 19(3), 239-243.