Setaria sphacelata
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Setaria sphacelata |
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| ( Schumach. ) Stapf & CEHubb. ex Moss |
Setaria sphacelata is a species from the genus of the bristle millet ( Setaria ) originating in tropical Africa. It has been introduced as a pasture and fodder plant in many tropical countries and has grown wild there. Locally, for example in Australia, it is now considered a weed.
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Setaria sphacelata is a variable, diverse species, of which numerous forms have been described in the rank of varieties , but which merge seamlessly into one another in their characteristics. These are available in different degrees of ploidy , from diploid to decaploid. It is a perennial, robust, clump-shaped growing grass that, depending on the variety , can have creeping shoots ( rhizomes ). The upright growing stalks often reach two, sometimes up to three meters in height. Depending on the variety, the stalks have a different number of nodes , up to 17 in the tall-growing variety splendida , the stalk then reaches 6 to 12 millimeters in diameter. In many cultivated varieties, young, non-flowering shoots are strongly flattened with keeled leaf sheaths, which are often red in color. Occasionally the stalks branch upwards at nodes, so that several inflorescences arise. The leaf sheaths, nodes and leaf blades are hairless, at the base of the leaf blade instead of a ligule there are sparsely long hairs. The green or blue-green leaf blade usually reaches 11 to 12 millimeters wide (extremes from 10 to 17, in some varieties up to 20) at 10 to 50, rarely up to 70 centimeters in length.
The inflorescence is, as is typical for the genus, a narrow, cylindrical, spike-like panicle (bottle-brush-like), which reaches 10 to 50 centimeters in length in the species. The spikelets are in groups of two to three on short ramifications, each of them bears the bristles typical of the genus at the base, in the species about 5 to 15 of varying length and color, in the var.anceps the husks are pink to purple and the bristles golden yellow (therefore called "golden millet"). The spikelets are about 2.5 to 3 millimeters long, flattened on the axial side, arched outside, they are two-flowered with a male (or sterile) lower and hermaphrodite upper flower. The inner glume reaches about one third, the outer two thirds of the spikelet length. When the fruit ripens, the fore and lemmas become rock-hard and form a permanent shell. The bristles remain on the inflorescence when the fruits fall out.
distribution
The species is native to all of sub-Saharan Africa, north to Ethiopia, south to South Africa. In addition to its natural occurrence, it is also widely sown in Africa on cultivated land as fodder grass. It is also naturalized as a neophyte in Asia, Australia and America.
Ecology and location
The species occurs in Africa mainly in savannah landscapes and wetlands known as Dambo at greater sea level, in the highlands, it is one of the most common grass species here, but is rarely the dominant species. It prefers soil-moist, well-supplied locations with nutrients and has only low tolerance against drought, but tolerates short-term flooding. The species is moderately frost-tolerant and can therefore occur up to 3300 meters altitude. Temperatures of 18 to 22 ° C are optimal for growth.
Uses and benefits
Of growing in Kenya varieties of the species were varieties bred and traded as a forage crop in agriculture, almost worldwide in appropriate climates. The variety “Nandi”, for example, is widespread in cultivation. The species is widespread wild in the new cultivation areas and now grows almost worldwide as a neophyte . Plants occurring in South America are assigned to the var. Sericea . In Malaysia and Indonesia, the var. Splendida , which has only a few stalks, is one of the most important types of grass cultivated as fodder grass; the "Kazungula" variety is also often grown. In Australia, especially in Queensland , different varieties are cultivated for agriculture, the species is wild here and nowadays often occurs spontaneously in the coastal region of northern and eastern Australia. In Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia, naturalized stocks are classified as weeds.
The species is considered a valuable fodder, but it tends to accumulate calcium oxalate in locations with a high nitrogen content in the soil , which can cause health problems when fed to horses.
Grains of the species were previously, rarely, harvested as wild grain in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia, but this use was limited to times of famine.
Taxonomy and systematics
Setaria is a global genus of grass with over a hundred species that belongs to the subfamily Panicoideae , Tribe Paniceae . Under the name Setaria sphacelata , a morphologically diverse species complex is summarized, the individual species of which merge into one another without any sharp distinction between features. In addition to diploid clans, there are those with various degrees of polyploidy, up to decaploid, which can be fertile crossed with one another and do not correlate with the morphologically defined forms. They are therefore considered to be varieties of a broad species. The Setaria anceps Stapf, Setaria trinervia Stapf and Setaria splendida Stapf, which used to be often differentiated , are now mostly included in this collective species (there are also numerous other synonyms). These differ from each other almost only in their vegetative characteristics. According to genetic data, the species is quite heterogeneous, but essentially forms a closed clade , but further taxa would have to be included in the analysis for a final clarification of the circumstances. According to genetic data, the red millet Setaria pumila, which is also widespread in Central Europe, is very closely related .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c J.B. Hacker: Setaria sphacelata. In: L. t'Mannetje and RM Jones (editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia. No 4: Forages. Pudoc Scientific Publishers, Wageningen 1992. ISBN 90-220-1032-5 . on page 201–203.
- ↑ a b Setaria sphacelata. Kew Science, Plants of the World online . therein WD Clayton, SM Phillips & SA Renvoize: FTEA Flora of Tropical East Africa , Gramineae. published by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2000.
- ↑ Setaria sphacelata. JSTOR Global Plants therein: WD Clayton: Flora Zambesiaca Vol 10, Part 3, (1989).
- ↑ Setaria sphacelata. Flora of Zimbabwe . in Hyde, MA, Wursten, BT, Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2018). Flora of Zimbabwe online. accessed on May 2, 2018.
- ↑ a b J.B. Hacker & RJ Jones (1969): The Setaria sphacelata complex - a review. Tropical Grasslands 3 (1): 13-34.
- ^ PJ Skerman & F. Riveros: Tropical grasses. FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 1990. ISBN 92-5-101128-1
- ↑ AV Bogdan (1965): Cultivated varieties of tropical and subtropical herbage plants in Kenya. East African Agriculture and Forestry Journal 30 (4): 330-338.
- ^ O. Morrone y FO Zuloaga (1995): 19. Poaceae, parte 1, Tribu 18. Paniceae, parte A. Flora Fanerogamica Argentina. ( PDF )
- ↑ South African pigeon grass (Setaria sphacelata). Weeds of Australia, Biosecurity Queensland edition. Queensland Government
- ^ Board on Science and Technology for International Development, National Research Council (editors): Lost Crops of Africa. Vol. 1: Grains. National Academy Press, Washington DC. 1996. ISBN 0-309-04990-3 therein Chapter 14: Wild Grains. on page 272.
- ^ WD Clayton (1979): Notes on Setaria (Gramineae). Kew Bulletin 33 (3): 501-509.
- ↑ Elizabeth A. Kellogg, Sandra S. Aliscioni, Osvaldo Morrone, José Pensiero, Fernando Zuloaga (2009): A phylogeny of Setaria (Poaceae, Panicoideae, Paniceae) and related genera based on the chloroplast gene ndhF. International Journal of Plant Sciences 170 (1): 117-131.
Web links
- Golden millet (Setaria sphacelata). in Feedipedia: an on-line encyclopedia of animal feeds . INRA CIRAD AFZ and FAO 2012-2017.