Brachiaria

Brachiaria is a genus of herbaceous plants belonging to the Poaceae family. It is native to Africa and the Mediterranean region. It comprises 212 described species and of these, only 123 accepted.

Description

Annual plants, loosely tufted. Leaves with pubescent sheath; ligule represented by a line of hairs; flat blade. Inflorescence formed by unilateral racemes arranged along a trigone and pubescent axis. Shortly pedunculated spikelets, with a male lower flower and a hermaphrodite upper flower. glumes very unequal; the lower one membranous, with barely marked nerves; the upper one as long as the spikelet, submembranous, with 5 nerves and a convex back, setose-pubescent. Lower flower with submembranous lemma as long as that of the upper flower, pubescent; palea shorter than lemma, membranous. Upper flower with lemma without apparent nerves, coriaceous, glabrous; palea as long as lemma, 2-keeled, leathery when mature. Ellipsoid or subspherical caryopsis.

Taxonomy

The genus was described by (Trin.) Griseb. and published in Flora Rossica 4(14): 469. 1853.

Etymology

The name of this genus derives from the Latin brachium = (arm), alluding to the way the bunches are carried.

Cytology

The basic chromosome number of the genus is x = 9, with somatic chromosome numbers of 2n = 18. 2 ploidy. Relatively 'small' chromosomes. Persistent nucleoli.

Accepted species

The following is a list of the species of the genus Brachiaria accepted up to April 2014, arranged alphabetically. For each one, the binomial name followed by the author is indicated, abbreviated according to conventions and uses.

• Brachiaria adspersa (Trin.) Parodi (1969)
• Brachiaria advena Vickery (1951)
• Brachiaria albicoma (Swallen " García-Barr.) Zuloaga " Soderstr. (1985)
• Brachiaria ambigens Chiov. (1951)
• Brachiaria antsirabensis A.Camus (1930)
• Brachiaria argentea (R.Br.) Hughes (1923)
• Brachiaria arida (Mez) Stapf (1919)
• Arizonica brachiaria S.T.Blake (1969)
• Brachiaria requisition (T.Durand & Schinz) Stent (1924)
• Brachiaria atrisola (R.D.Webster) B.K.Simon (1992)
• Brachiaria bemarivensis A.Camus (1925)
• Brachiaria benoistii A.Camus (1954)
• Brachiaria bovonei (Chiov.) Robyns (1932)
• Brachiaria breviglumis Clayton (1980)
• Brachiaria brevispicata (Rendle) Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria brizantha (A.Rich.) Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria burmanica Bor (1950)
• Brachiaria capuronii A.Camus (1957)
• Brachiaria chusqueoides (Hack.) Clayton (1980)
• Brachiaria ciliatissima (Buckley) Chase (1920)
• Brachiaria clavipila (Chiov.) Robyns (1932)
• Brachiaria comata (A.Rich.) Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria coronifera Pilg. (1936)
• Brachiaria decaryana A.Camus (1957)
• Brachiaria decumbens Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria deflexa (Schumach.) C.E.Hubb. ex Robyns (1932)
• Brachiaria Dectyoneura (Fig. " De Not.) Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria dimorpha A.Camus (1925)
• Brachiaria distachya (L.) Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria distachyoides Stapf (1919)
• Hardcore Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria echinulata (Mez) Parodi (1969)
• Brachiaria eminii (Mez) Robyns (1932)
• Brachiaria epacridifolia (Stapf) A.Camus (1950)
• Euciformis (Sm.) Griseb. (1853)
• Falciferous brachiaria (Trin ex Nees) Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria fasciculata (Sw.) Parodi (1969)
• Folly brachiaria (R.Br.) Hughes (1923)
• Brachiaria fragrans A.Camus (1935)
• Brachiaria fruticulosa A.Camus (1957)
• Brachiaria fusiformis Reeder (1948)
• Brachiaria gilesii (Benth.) Chase (1920)
• Brachiaria glomerata (Hack.) A.Camus (1931)
• Brachiaria grossa Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria holosericea (R.Br.) Hughes (1923)
• Brachiaria humbertiana A.Camus (1932 publ. 1933)
• Brachiaria humidicola (Rendle) Schweick. (1936)
• Brachiaria jaliscana Santana Mich. (1992)
• Brachiaria jubata (Fig. " De Not.) Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria kurzii (Hook.f.) A.Camus (1922)
• Brachiaria lachnantha (Hochst.) Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria lactea (Mez) A.Camus (1946)
• Brachiaria laeta (Mez) A.Camus (1935)
• Brachiaria lata (Schumach.) C.E.Hubb. (1938)
• Brachiaria lateritica A.Camus (1946)
• Brachiaria leandriana Bosser, Adansonia, n.s. (1966)
• Brachiaria readsioides (Hochst.) Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria leucacrantha (K.Schum.) Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria lindiensis (Pilg.) Clayton (1981)
• Brachiaria longiflora Clayton (1980)
• Brachiaria lorentziana (Mez) Parodi (1969)
• Brachiaria malacodes (Mez & K.Schum.) H.Scholz (1978)
• Brachiaria marlothii (Hack.) Stent (1924)
• Brachiaria megastachya (Nees ex Trin.) Zuloaga & Soderstr. (1985)
• Brachiaria mesocoma (Nees) A.Camus (1931)
• Brachiaria meziana Hitchc. (1908)
• Brachiaria mollis (Sw.) Parodi (1969)
• Multicultured (Andersson) Laegaard " Renvoize (2006)
• Brachiaria munae Basappa, Proc. Indian Acad. Sci (1984)
• Brachiaria mutica (Forssk.) Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria nana Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria nigropedata (Ficalho & Hiern) Stapf (1919)
• Nilagirica Bor (1973)
• Brachiaria notochthona (Domin) Stapf (1920)
• Brachiaria oblita (Swallen) Tovar (1986)
• Western Brachiarian C.A.Gardner & C.E.Hubb. (1938)
• Oligobrachiata (Pilg.) Henrard (1940)
• Brachiaria ophryodes Chase (1920)
• Brachiaria orthostachys (Mez) Clayton (1966)
• Brachiaria ovalis Stapf (1919)
• Paucispicata (Morong) Clayton (1987)
• Brachiaria perrieri A.Camus (1931)
• Warehouse (F.Muell. ex Benth.) Hughes (1923)
• Brachiaria plantaginea (Link) Hitchc. (1909)
• Brachiaria platynota (K.Schum.) Robyns (1932)
• Brachiaria platyphylla (Munro ex C.Wright) Nash (1903)
• Brachiaria polyphylla (R.Br.) Hughes (1923)
• Brachiaria praetervisa (Domin) C.E.Hubb. (1934)
• Brachiaria psammophila (Welw. ex Rendle) Launert (1970)
• Brachiaria pseudodichotoma Bosser, Adansonia, n.s. (1966)
• Brachiaria pubescens (Chiov.) S.M.Phillips (1991)
• Brachiaria pubigera (Roem. & Schult.) S.T.Blake (1969)
• Brachiaria pungipes Clayton (1980)
• Bounty brachiaria (L.) Stapf (1919)
• Remote (Retz.) Haines (1924)
• Brachiaria reptans (L.) C.A.Gardner & C.E.Hubb (1938) - fox in Cuba
• Brachiaria reticulata Stapf (1919)
• Rugged brachiaria Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria ruziensis Germ. & C.M.Evrard (1953)
• Brachiaria scalaris Pilg. (1928)
• Brachiaria schoenfelderi C.E.Hubb. & Schweick. (1936)
• Brachiaria semiundulata (Hochst.) Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria semiverticillata (Rottler) Alston (1931)
• Brachiaria serpens (Kunth) C.E.Hubb. (1940)
• Brachiaria serrata (Thunb.) Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria serrifolia (Hochst.) Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria stefaninii Chiov. (1928)
• Brachiaria stigmatisata (Mez) Stapf (1919)
• Brachiaria subquadripara (Trin.) Hitchc. (1931)
• Brachiaria subrostrata A.Camus (1927)
• Brachiaria subulifolia (Mez) Clayton (1980)
• Tanimbarinsis Ohwi (1947)
• Brachiaria texana (Buckley) S.T.Blake (1969)
• Brachiaria tsiafajavonensis A.Camus (1925)
• Brachiaria turbinata Van der Veken (1958)
• Brachiaria umbellata (Trin.) Clayton (1980)
• Brachiaria umbratilis Napper (1963)
• Brachiaria urocoides S.L.Chen & Y.X.Jin (1984)
• Brachiaria uzondoiensis Sánchez-Ken (2007)
• Brachiaria villosa (Lam.) A.Camus (1922)
• Brachiaria whiteana (Domin) C.E.Hubb. (1934)
• Brachiaria windersii C.E.Hubb. (1938)
• Brachiaria wittei Robyns (1932)
• Brachiaria xantholeuca (Schinz) Stapf (1919)

Economic importance

The weed species is significant: B. eruciformis.