Poaceae
Cymbopogon

Cymbopogon nardus (L.) Rendle

First published in W.P.Hiern, Cat. Afr. Pl. 2: 155 (1899)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is South Sudan to S. Africa and Indo-China. It is a perennial and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome. It is used as animal food and a medicine, has environmental uses and for food.

Distribution

Native to:

Angola, Assam, Bangladesh, Botswana, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Provinces, DR Congo, East Himalaya, Eswatini, Free State, India, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Laos, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, Myanmar, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Zimbabwe

Introduced into:

Andaman Is., Bahamas, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Brazil Northeast, Brazil West-Central, Caroline Is., China South-Central, China Southeast, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Fiji, Florida, Hainan, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Jawa, Leeward Is., Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maldives, Maluku, Marianas, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Nansei-shoto, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Nigeria, Niue, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Sumatera, Taiwan, Trinidad-Tobago

Synonyms

Homotypic Synonyms

Heterotypic Synonyms

Classification

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Publications

POWO follows these authorities in accepting this name:

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Ahmed, Z.U. (ed.) (2008). Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh 12: 1-505. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  • Boulos, L. (2005). Flora of Egypt 4: 1-617. Al Hadara Publishing, Cairo.
  • Clayton, W.D. & Renvoize, S.A. (1982). Gramineae. Flora of Tropical East Africa 3: 451-898.
  • Clayton, W.D. & Snow, N. (2010). A key to Pacific Grasses: 1-107. Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. & Williamson, H. (2006). World Grass Species - Synonymy database The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Cope, T.A. (2002). Flora Zambesiaca 10(4): 1-190. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Dassanayake (ed.) (1994). A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon 8: 1-458. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. PVT. LTD., New Delhi, Calcutta.
  • Dobignard, D. & Chatelain, C. (2010). Index synonymique de la flore d'Afrique du nord 1: 1-455. Éditions des conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Genève.
  • Dy Phon, P. (2000). Dictionnaire des plantes utilisées au Cambodge: 1-915. Chez l'auteur, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
  • Dávila, P., Mejia-Saulés, M.T., Gómez-Sánchez, N., Valdés-Reyna, J., Ortíz, J.J., Morín, C., Castrejón, J. & Ocampo, A. (2006). Catálogo de las Gramíneas de México: 1-671. CONABIO, México city.
  • Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola. Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003). Flora of North America North of Mexico 25: 1-781. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.
  • Franck, A.R., Anderson, L.C., Burkhalter, J.R. & Dickman, S. (2016). Additions to the flora of Florida, U.S.A. (2010-2015). Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 10: 175-190.
  • Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds.) (2003). Plants of Southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14.: i-vi, 1-1231. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Gilliland, H.B. (1971). A revised flora of Malaya 3: 1-319. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Singapore.
  • Giraldo-Cañas, D. (2011). Catálogo de la familia Poaceae en Colombia. Darwiniana 49: 139-247.
  • Iwatsuki, K., Boufford, D.E. & Ohba, H. (eds.) (2020). Flora of Japan IVa: 1-430. Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo.
  • Karthikeyan, S., Jain, S.K., Nayar, M.P. & Sanjappa, M. (1989). Florae Indicae Enumeratio: Monocotyledonae: 1-435. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta.
  • Kress, W.J., DeFilipps, R.A., Farr, E. & Kyi, D.Y.Y. (2003). A Checklist of the Trees, Shrubs, Herbs and Climbers of Myanmar. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45: 1-590.
  • Ndabaneze, P. (1989). Catalogue des Graminées du Burundi. Lejeunia; Revue de Botanique, n.s., 132: 1-127.
  • Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
  • Newman, M., Ketphanh, S., Svengsuksa, B., Thomas, P., Sengdala, K., Lamxay, V. & Armstrong, K. (2007). A checklist of the vascular plants of Lao PDR: 1-394. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.
  • Noltie, H.J. (2000). Flora of Bhutan 3(2): 457-883. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.
  • Pandey, R.P. & Dilwakar, P.G. (2008). An integrated check-list flora of Andaman and Nicobar islands, India. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 32: 403-500.
  • Prasanna, P.V. & al. (eds.) (2024). Flora of India 32: 1-694. Botanical Survey of India.
  • Robertson, S.A. (1989). Flowering Plants of Seychelles: 1-327. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Troupin, G. (ed.) (1988). Flora du Rwanda 4: I-X, 1-651. Musee Royal de l'Afrique Centrale.
  • Walker, E.H. (1976). Flora of Okinawa and the southern Ryukyu islands: 1-1159. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C., U.S.A.
  • Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2006). Poaceae. Flora of China 22: 1-733. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.

Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Ahmed, Z.U. (ed.) (2008). Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh 12: 1-505. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  • Camus, E.G. & Camus, A. in H. Lecomte (1922). Flore Générale de l'indo-Chine 1(3): 193-336.
  • Clayton, W.D. & Renvoize, S.A. (1982). Gramineae. Flora of Tropical East Africa 3: 451-898.
  • Clayton, W.D. & Snow, N. (2010). A key to Pacific Grasses: 1-107. Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. & Williamson, H. (2006). World Grass Species - Synonymy database The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Cope, T.A. (2002). Flora Zambesiaca 10(4): 1-190. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Dassanayake (ed.) (1994). A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon 8: 1-458. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. PVT. LTD., New Delhi, Calcutta.
  • Datta, B.K., Saha, R. Roy, M. & Majumder, K. (2008). Grasses of West Tripura district, Tripura, India. Pleione 2: 98-105.
  • Dobignard, D. & Chatelain, C. (2010). Index synonymique de la flore d'Afrique du nord 1: 1-455. Éditions des conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Genève.
  • Dy Phon, P. (2000). Dictionnaire des plantes utilisées au Cambodge: 1-915. Chez l'auteur, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
  • Dávila, P., Mejia-Saulés, M.T., Gómez-Sánchez, N., Valdés-Reyna, J., Ortíz, J.J., Morín, C., Castrejón, J. & Ocampo, A. (2006). Catálogo de las Gramíneas de México: 1-671. CONABIO, México city.
  • Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola. Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003). Flora of North America North of Mexico 25: 1-781. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.
  • Forzza, R.C. & al. (2013). Lista de Espécies da Flora do Brasil http://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/2010/.
  • Fosberg, F.R. (1957). The Maldive islands, Indian Ocean. Atoll Research Bulletin 58: 1-37.
  • Franck, A.R., Anderson, L.C., Burkhalter, J.R. & Dickman, S. (2016). Additions to the flora of Florida, U.S.A. (2010-2015). Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 10: 175-190.
  • Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds.) (2003). Plants of Southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14.: i-vi, 1-1231. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Gilliland, H.B. (1971). A revised flora of Malaya 3: 1-319. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Singapore.
  • Giraldo-Cañas, D. (2011). Catálogo de la familia Poaceae en Colombia. Darwiniana 49: 139-247.
  • Kandwal, M.K. & Gupta, B.K. (2009). An update on grass flora of Uttarkhand. Indian Journal of Forestry 32: 657-668.
  • Kress, W.J., DeFilipps, R.A., Farr, E. & Kyi, D.Y.Y. (2003). A Checklist of the Trees, Shrubs, Herbs and Climbers of Myanmar. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45: 1-590.
  • Lewalle, J. (1970). Liste floristique et répartition altitudinale de la flore du Burundi occidental: 1-84. Université officielle de Bujumbura.
  • Masamune, G. (1942). Enumeratio phanerogamarum Bornearum: 1-739. Taihoku, Formosa.
  • Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
  • Newman, M., Ketphanh, S., Svengsuksa, B., Thomas, P., Sengdala, K., Lamxay, V. & Armstrong, K. (2007). A checklist of the vascular plants of Lao PDR: 1-394. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.
  • Noltie, H.J. (2000). Flora of Bhutan 3(2): 457-883. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.
  • Pandey, R.P. & Dilwakar, P.G. (2008). An integrated check-list flora of Andaman and Nicobar islands, India. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 32: 403-500.
  • Peekel, P.G. (1984). Flora of the Bismarck Archipelago for Naturalists: 1-638. Office of Forests, Division of Botany, Lae, Papua New Guinea.
  • Robertson, S.A. (1989). Flowering Plants of Seychelles: 1-327. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Robyns, W. (1929). Flore Agrostologique du Congo Belge et du Ruanda-Urundi 1: 1-229. Goemaere, Bruxelles.
  • Troupin, G. (ed.) (1988). Flora du Rwanda 4: I-X, 1-651. Musee Royal de l'Afrique Centrale.
  • Walker, E.H. (1976). Flora of Okinawa and the southern Ryukyu islands: 1-1159. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C., U.S.A.
  • Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2006). Poaceae. Flora of China 22: 1-733. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.

Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R., & Celis, M. (eds.). (2020). Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia. v1.1. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Dataset/Checklist. https://doi.org/10.15472/7avdhn
  • Burkill HM. (1995). The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols. 1-3. The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols 1-3.
  • Cámara-Leret, R., & Dennehy, Z. (2019). Information gaps in indigenous and local knowledge for science-policy assessments. Nature Sustainability 2:736-741.
  • Diazgranados et al. (2021). Catalogue of plants of Colombia. Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project. In prep.
  • Diazgranados, M., Allkin, B., Black N., Cámara-Leret, R., Canteiro C., Carretero J., Eastwood R., Hargreaves S., Hudson A., Milliken W., Nesbitt, M., Ondo, I., Patmore, K., Pironon, S., Turner, R., Ulian, T. (2020). World Checklist of Useful Plant Species. Produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity.
  • FPI (2021). Food Plants International. https://fms.cmsvr.com/fmi/webd/Food_Plants_World?homeurl=https://foodplantsinternational.com/plants/
  • GBIF.org (2021). GBIF species matching tool. https://www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup
  • GRIN (2021). Germplasm Resources Information Network from the United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.ars-grin.gov/
  • Jansen, P., Lemmens, R., Oyen, L., Siemonsma, J., Stavast, F. & Van Valkenburg, J. (1991) Plant Resources of South-East Asia. Basic list of species and commodity grouping. Final version. Pudoc, Wageningen.
  • Medicinal Plant Names Services (MPNS) v.10 (2021); http://mpns.kew.org/
  • PROTA (2021). Plants Resources of Tropical Africa. https://prota4u.org/database/
  • RBG, Kew (2021). Kew Economic Botany Collection. https://ecbot.science.kew.org/
  • Willis, K.J. (ed.) (2017). State of the World’s Plants 2017. Report. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Other Data

Other Kew resources that provide information on this taxon:

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Colombian resources for Plants made Accessible

    • ColPlantA 2021. Published on the Internet at http://colplanta.org
    • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

  • EBC Common Names

    • Common Names from Kew's Economic Botany Collection https://www.kew.org/science/collections-and-resources/collections/economic-botany-collection

  • GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora

    • Clayton, W.D., Vorontsova, M.S., Harman, K.T. and Williamson, H. (2006 onwards). GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora.
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Universidad Nacional de Colombia

    • ColPlantA database
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0