Bothriochloa

Bothriochloa is a genus of herbaceous plants in the family Poaceae or grasses. It is native to Africa, Madagascar, Indonesia, Polynesia, and New Caledonia. From East Asia and North America.

Description

They are perennial cespitose, rhizomatous or stoloniferous plants; fistulous stems; hermaphrodite or polygamous plants. Ligule a membrane; blades linear, flattened. Inflorescence of few to several racemes subdigitate to paniculate, racemes with spikelets towards the base, rachis articulated, spikelets paired, the 2 spikelets and 1 rachis internode deciduous as a unit, rachis internodes and pedicels linear, with a narrow central groove, hyaline, translucent, overall densely silky-ciliated; spikelets dimorphic, dorsally compressed, sessile and pedicelate, with 2 florets; sessile bisexual spikelets, lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, awned, callus obtuse, hairy, glumes equal, cartilaginous, concealing the florets, lower glume flattened or slightly concave on the back, sometimes with a circular pit, multiveined, 2-carinate, margins embracing upper glume, upper glume 3-veined, keeled, lower floret sterile, lower lemma thin, hyaline, enervia, lower palea absent, upper floret bisexual, upper lemma reduced towards base of awn, entire, awn geniculate, twisted, brown, exserted, lodicules 2, stamens 3, styles 2; sterile or staminate pedicelate spikelets, similar to sessile spikelets, or smaller or reduced, awnless, pedicels free. Fruit a caryopsis; dotted thread.

Taxonomy

The genus was described by Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze and published in Revisio Generum Plantarum 2: 762. 1891. The type species is: Bothriochloa anamitica Kuntze.

Etymology

The generic name derives from the Greek bothrion (well) and chloe (grass), alluding to its lower glumes.

Cytology

The basic chromosome number of the genus is x = 10, with somatic chromosome numbers of 2n = 30, 40, 50 and 120, since there are diploid species and a polyploid series. Relatively "small" chromosomes.

Economic importance

The following species are considered weeds: B. ischaemum, B. pertusa, B. saccharoides. Cultivated fodder: B. insculpta. Important native pasture species: B. bladhii, B. ewartiana, B. insculpta, B. ischaemum, B. pertusa, B. radicans, etc.

Species

• Bothriochloa high
• Bothriochloa ambiguous
• Bothriochloa barbinodis
• Bothriochloa bladhii
• Bothriochloa bunyensis
• Bothriochloa campii
• Bothriochloa edwardsiana
• Bothriochloa exaristata
• Bothriochloa hybrida
• Bothriochloa insculpta
• Bothriochloa ischaemum
• Bothriochloa kuntzeana
• Bothriochloa laguroids
• Bothriochloa longipaniculata
• Bothriochloa pertusa
• Bothriochloa residens
• Bothriochloa springfieldii
• Bothriochloa wrightii