Silver hair grass

Silver hair grass
	Silver hair grass ( Imperata cylindrica )
Systematics
	Commelinids
Order :	Sweet grass (Poales)
Family :	Sweet grasses (Poaceae)
Subfamily :	Panicoideae
Genre :	Imperata
Type :	Silver hair grass
Scientific name
	Imperata cylindrica
	( L. ) P.Beauv.

Silver hair grass ( Imperata cylindrica ) is a plant species and belongs to the subfamily of Panicoideae within the true grasses (Poaceae). Cultivated forms with red colored leaves are cultivated as ornamental plants under the name blood grass or Japanese blood grass .

description

Inflorescences and leaf blades.

Vegetative characteristics

Imperata cylindrica grows as a perennial herbaceous plant and reaches heights of between 25 centimeters and 1.2 meters. The robust, scaly rhizomes spread widely. The roots reach up to 1.2 meters deep, in sandy soils only up to 40 cm. The single or multiple stalks have a diameter of 1.5 to 3 mm and have one to four nodes that are bare or bearded.

The leaves are divided into leaf sheath and leaf blade. The leaf sheaths are glabrous or hairy on the edges and those on the base of the plant become fibrous. The stiffly upright, flat or curled leaf blades are 20 to 100 cm long and 0.8 to 2 cm wide, those near the base are 1 to 3 cm wide. The base of the blade is straight or narrowed and the tip is pointed long. The sharp leaf edges are finely serrated and studded with sharp silicate crystals. Because of its sharp leaf edges, this species is also called "Sword Grass" (translated "sword grass"). The main vein of the leaf is lighter in color than the rest and is usually closer to one of the sides. The top of the leaf is usually covered with hairs at the base, while the underside is bare. The ligule is 1 to 2 mm long.

Generative characteristics

The narrow cylindrical, paniculate inflorescence is 6 to 20 cm long and abundantly hairy and looks silky white. The spikelets are 2.5 to 6 mm long. The glume (Gluma) has five to nine nerves and three times as long silky hair as their length. The ciliate lower lemma is ovate-lanceolate and has two-thirds of the length of the glume; the toothed, ciliate upper is ovate and half as long as the glume. The palea is similar to the lemma. The two anthers are 2 to 4 mm long. The purple-black stigmas are long-lasting and very noticeable in the silky white inflorescence. Imperata cylindrica flowers and gives fruit between April and August.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 20.

distribution

Imperata cylindrica is native to East and Southeast Asia , India , Micronesia, and eastern and southern Africa . It is often found on disturbed locations, such as B. roadsides, construction sites and logging areas, but it can also colonize damp and dry pine forests and then often forms dense, monotonous stands. Imperata cylindrica is considered to be an aggressive invasive plant in many areas of the world .

Cultivation and Use

Japanese blood grass ( Imperata cylindrica ).

Imperata cylindrica is very often planted to stabilize near-lake and other soils threatened by erosion . In the 1940s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommended growing silver hair grass on erosion-prone soils, even though the grass contains little nutritional value and is sharp enough to injure cattle lips and tongues. Today it is considered an invasive plant in the region, slowly spreading north from the southern United States.

Silver hair grass is used for the production of paper and mats or bags. In Papua New Guinea and East Timor , and in prehistoric China, Imperata cylindrica was used to cover roofs.

However, the main use of Imperata cylindrica is in medicine as an astringent , antipyretic , diuretic and alum stick , which are mainly used in traditional Chinese medicine .

ecology

Imperata cylindrica can ignite easily, even if it is apparently “green”. Flowering occurs before the fires. Rhizomes and seeds survive the fires. After the fires, the seeds are spread over long distances by the wind.

Names

Some common names in different languages are: English: Cogon grass , Sword Grass or Blady Grass ; French: paillote ; Spanish: cisca ; Indonesian: alang-alang ; Malay: lalang ; Thai: (หญ้า) คา ; Vietnamese: cỏ tranh .

Systematics

This species was 1759 Lagurus cylindricus by Linnaeus in Systema Naturae , Second Edition, 2, pp 878 first published . This species was placed in the genus Imperata in 1797 by Ernst Adolf Rauschel : Nomenclator Botanicus , third edition, 3, p. 10, but this publication is invalid; the current publication comes from Ambroise Marie François Joseph Palisot de Beauvois in Ess. Agrostogr. , 8, 1812, 165, 177, t. 5, fig. 1. Further synonyms for Imperata cylindrica (L.) Raeuschel are: Imperata allang Jungh., Imperata arundinacea Cyr., Imperata filifolia Nees ex Steud., Imperata koenigii var. Major Nees, Lagurus cylindricus L., Saccharum cylindricum (L.) Lam ., Saccharum koenigii Retz., Saccharum thunbergii Retz .. The genus Imperata Cirillo belongs to the tribe Andropogoneae in the subfamily Panicoideae within the family Poaceae .

Usually three valid Imperata cylindrica varieties are listed:

Imperata cylindrica (L.) Raeuschel var. Cylindrica : The leaf blades are rolled up. It occurs in the Mediterranean area and in the Middle East .
Imperata cylindrica var. Africana (Andersson) CEHubb .: The leaf blades are flat and the spikelets are 3 to 5.7 (average 4.5) mm long. The home is Africa.
Imperata cylindrica var. Major (Nees) CEHubb .. The leaf blades are flat and the spikelets are 2.5 to 43 (average 33) mm long. It is native to tropical Asia and Australasia, perhaps also parts of tropical East Africa.

swell

Shou-liang Chen & Sylvia M. Phillips: Imperata in der Flora of China , Volume 22, 2006, p. 584: Imperata cylindrica - Online. (Section description)
Thomas A. Cope: Poaceae in the Flora of Pakistan : Imperata cylindrica - Online. (Section description and systematics)

Individual evidence

↑ Amy Stewart: Common Plants . Berliner Taschenbuch Verlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-8270-7441-6 , p. 125
↑ Laura Suzanne Meitzner Yoder: Custom, Codification, Collaboration: Integrating the Legacies of Land and Forest Authorities in Oecusse Enclave, East Timor ( Memento of March 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), pp. 16 & 17, Yale University 2005 (PDF- File; 1.46 MB)
↑ Wang Hai Ming: Majiabang . In: Peter N. Peregrine, Melvin Ember (Eds.): Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 3: East Asia and Oceania. Springer US, 2001, pp. 206-221, doi : 10.1007 / 978-1-4615-1189-2 , ISBN 978-1-4684-7130-4 (print) 978-1-4615-1189-2 (online) .
↑ Thomas A. Cope: Poaceae in the Flora of Pakistan : Imperata cylindrica - Online.
^ Imperata cylindrica in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.

Web links

Commons : Imperata cylindrica - collection of images, videos and audio files

Invasive plant - example Florida.

[1] Amy Stewart: Common Plants . Berliner Taschenbuch Verlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-8270-7441-6 , p. 125

[2] Laura Suzanne Meitzner Yoder: Custom, Codification, Collaboration: Integrating the Legacies of Land and Forest Authorities in Oecusse Enclave, East Timor ( Memento of March 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), pp. 16 & 17, Yale University 2005 (PDF- File; 1.46 MB)

[3] Wang Hai Ming: Majiabang . In: Peter N. Peregrine, Melvin Ember (Eds.): Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 3: East Asia and Oceania. Springer US, 2001, pp. 206-221, doi : 10.1007 / 978-1-4615-1189-2 , ISBN 978-1-4684-7130-4 (print) 978-1-4615-1189-2 (online) .

[FOP-4] Thomas A. Cope: Poaceae in the Flora of Pakistan : Imperata cylindrica - Online.

[5] Imperata cylindrica in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.