Family:
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus:
Urochloa P.Beauv.

Urochloa brizantha (A.Rich.) R.D.Webster

This species is accepted, and its native range is Tropical & S. Africa, W. Indian Ocean, SW. Arabian Peninsula. It is used as animal food, a medicine and invertebrate food, has environmental uses and for food.

[UNAL]

Bernal, R., G. Galeano, A. Rodríguez, H. Sarmiento y M. Gutiérrez. 2017. Nombres Comunes de las Plantas de Colombia. http://www.biovirtual.unal.edu.co/nombrescomunes/

Vernacular
bacaria lisa, braquiara amargo, braquiaria, pasto alambre

[CPLC]

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

Distribution
Naturalizada y adventicia en Colombia; Alt. 0 - 2500 m.; Amazonia, Andes, Llanura del Caribe, Orinoquia, Valle del Cauca, Valle del Magdalena.
Morphology General Habit
Hierba
Conservation
No Evaluada

[UPFC]
Distribution
Biogeografic region: Amazonia, Andean, Caribbean, Orinoquia. Elevation range: 0–2500 m a.s.l. Naturalised in Colombia. Colombian departments: Antioquia, Arauca, Boyacá, Caldas, Caquetá, Córdoba, Huila, Meta, Tolima, Valle del Cauca.
Habit
Herb.
Ecology
Habitat according IUCN Habitats Classification: forest and woodland, savanna, shrubland, native grassland, artificial - terrestrial.

[FZ]

Gramineae, W. D. Clayton. Flora Zambesiaca 10:3. 1989

Morphology General Habit
Tufted perennial.
Morphology Culms
Culms 30–200 cm. high, erect or sometimes geniculately ascending.
Morphology Leaves Leaf lamina
Leaf laminae 3–20 mm. wide, flat.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence of (1)2–16 racemes, these mostly 4–20 cm. long, bearing spikelets singly and usually in 1 row; rhachis crescentic in section, c. 1 mm. wide with narrow involute wings, ciliate on the margins.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets 4–6 mm. long, glabrous or sometimes sparsely pubescent, obtuse to subacute with a slight stipe at base.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
Inferior glume 1/3 length of spikelet, acute or obtuse, separated from the superior by a short internode; superior glume cartilaginous, dully shining.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Lemma
Inferior lemma cartilaginous, dully shining. Superior lemma granulose, subacute.

[FTEA]

Gramineae, W. D. Clayton, S. M. Phillips & S. A. Renvoize. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1974

Morphology General Habit
Tufted perennial; culms 30–200 cm. high, erect or sometimes geniculately ascending.
Morphology Leaves
Leaf-blades linear to broadly linear, 10–100 cm. long, 3–20 mm. wide.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence of (1–)2–16 racemes on an axis 3–20 cm. long; racemes mostly 4–20 cm. long, bearing the spikelets singly, these typically forming a single row; rhachis crescentic in section, ± 1 mm. wide, with narrow inrolled wings, ciliate on the margins.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets plumply elliptic, 4–6 mm. long, glabrous or sometimes sparsely pubescent, obtuse to subacute with a slight stipe at the base; lower glume 1/3, the length of the spikelet, clasping, acute or obtuse; upper glume cartilaginous, dully shining, separated from the lower by an internode; lower resembling the upper glume; upper lemma granulose, acute.
Habitat
Deciduous woodland, wooded grassland and upland grassland; 300–2400 m.
Distribution
K2 K3 K4 K5 K6 K7 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 tropical and South Africaintroduced elsewhere in the tropics

[FWTA]

Gramineae, W. D. Clayton. Flora of West Tropical Africa 3:2. 1972

Morphology General Habit
Robust perennial up to about 2 m. high.

[GB]
Morphology General Habit
Perennial; caespitose. Culms erect, or geniculately ascending; 30-200 cm long. Ligule a fringe of hairs. Leaf-blades linear, or lanceolate; 10-100 cm long; 3-20 mm wide.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence composed of racemes. Racemes (1-)2-16; borne along a central axis; unilateral; 4-20 cm long. Central inflorescence axis 3-20 cm long. Rhachis narrowly winged; semiterete; 1 mm wide; ciliate on margins. Spikelet packing adaxial; regular; 1 -rowed. Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets sessile.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets elliptic; dorsally compressed; compressed slightly; subacute, or acute; 4-6 mm long; falling entire. Spikelet callus square. Rhachilla internodes elongated between glumes.
Fertile
Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets elliptic; dorsally compressed; compressed slightly; subacute, or acute; 4-6 mm long; falling entire. Spikelet callus square. Rhachilla internodes elongated between glumes.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
Glumes dissimilar; reaching apex of florets; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume ovate; clasping; 0.33 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 7-11 -veined. Lower glume apex obtuse, or acute. Upper glume oblong; 1 length of spikelet; cartilaginous; without keels; 7-9 -veined. Upper glume surface glabrous, or pubescent. Upper glume apex obtuse, or acute.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Basal sterile florets male; with palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret similar to upper glume; oblong; 1 length of spikelet; cartilaginous; 5 -veined; glabrous, or pubescent; obtuse, or acute. Fertile lemma elliptic; 3.5-5.5 mm long; indurate; without keel. Lemma surface granulose. Lemma margins involute. Lemma apex acute. Palea involute; indurate; without keels.
Distribution
Africa: west tropical, west-central tropical, northeast tropical, east tropical, southern tropical, south, and western Indian ocean. Asia-temperate: Arabia. Asia-tropical: India, Malesia, and Papuasia. Australasia: Australia. Pacific: southwestern, south-central, and north-central. North America: Mexico. South America: northern South America, western South America, and Brazil.
Reference
Paniceae. FTEA.

[FSOM]

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Tufted perennial up to 200 cm high, erect or sometimes geniculately ascending
Morphology Leaves
Leaves linear to broadly linear
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence of (1–)2–16 racemes on an axis 3–20 cm long; racemes 4–20 cm long, bearing the spikelets singly in a single row on a rhachis crescentic in section and c. 1 mm wide
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets plumply elliptic, 4–6 mm long, glabrous or sometimes sparsely pubescent, obtuse to subacute, with a slight stipe at the base; lower glume c. 1/3 the length of the spikelet, clasping, acute or obtuse; upper glume separated from the lower by a very short internode; upper lemma granulose, acute.
Distribution
?N1 tropical and southern Africa, introduced elsewhere in the tropics.
Note
Reported from northern Somalia in Cuf. Enum.: 1312 (1969), but no collection has been seen and the record needs confirmation.

[UPFC]
Use Animal Food
Used as animal food.
Use Environmental
Environmental uses.
Use Food
Used for food.
Use Invertebrate Food
Used as invertebrate food.
Use Medicines
Medical uses.

Native to:

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Central African Repu, Chad, Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Free State, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Introduced into:

Argentina Northeast, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Cocos (Keeling) Is., Colombia, East Himalaya, Ecuador, Fiji, Florida, Galápagos, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Jawa, Mauritius, Mexico Central, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Myanmar, New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Queensland, Society Is., Texas, Thailand, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Western Australia

Urochloa brizantha (A.Rich.) R.D.Webster appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
May 1, 1998 Nascimento, M.S.B. [1398], Brazil Brachiaria brizantha K001078377 Yes
Oct 1, 1926 Vanderyst, H. [500050005000], Zaïre Brachiaria brizantha K000282146 Yes
Mori, S.A. [10560], Bahia Brachiaria brizantha K000003859 No
Santos, T.S. [3427], Bahia Brachiaria brizantha K000003856 Yes
Santos, T.S. [3865], Bahia Brachiaria brizantha K000003860 No
Grupo Pedra do Cavalo [709], Bahia Brachiaria brizantha K000003857 No
Calderon, C.E. [2225], Bahia Brachiaria brizantha K000003858 No
Calderon, C.E. [2225], Bahia Brachiaria brizantha K000003855 No
Noblick, L.R. [2626], Bahia Brachiaria brizantha K000003854 No
Graham [3937], Zimbabwe Brachiaria brizantha K000282058 Yes
Eyles, F. [1921], Zimbabwe Brachiaria brizantha K000282057 isosyntype Yes
Eyles, F. [1921], Zimbabwe Brachiaria brizantha K000282056 Yes
Vanderyst, H. [3674], Zaire Brachiaria brizantha K000282147 Yes
Speke, Uganda Brachiaria brizantha K000282129 holotype Yes
Schimper [89], Ethiopia Brachiaria brizantha K000282128 isosyntype Yes
Schimper [89], Ethiopia Brachiaria brizantha K000282126 isosyntype Yes
Schimper [89], Ethiopia Brachiaria brizantha K000282127 isosyntype Yes
Brunt, M.A. [939], Cameroon Brachiaria brizantha K000182466 No
Heringer, E.P. [1756], Brazil Brachiaria brizantha K001078376 Yes
Ornellas, S.O.A. [s.n.], Brazil Brachiaria brizantha K001078378 Yes
Lowe, J. [4206], Brazil Brachiaria brizantha K001078380 Yes
Dombrowski, L.T.D. [7389], Brazil Brachiaria brizantha K001078379 Yes
Silva, N.T. da [s.n.], Brazil Brachiaria brizantha K001078384 Yes
Brunt, M.A. [1010], Cameroon Brachiaria brizantha K000182464 No
s.coll. [2006], Brazil Brachiaria brizantha K001078385 Yes
Simões, R.S. [s.n.], Brazil Brachiaria brizantha K001078381 Yes
Hatschbach, G.G. [48984], Brazil Brachiaria brizantha K001078382 Yes
Heringer, E.P. [2077], Brazil Brachiaria brizantha K001078375 Yes
Silva, N.T. da [s.n.], Brazil Brachiaria brizantha K001078383 Yes

First published in Austral. Paniceae: 233 (1987)

Not accepted by

  • Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. & Williamson, H. (2006). World Grass Species - Synonymy database The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. [Cited as Brachiaria brizantha.]

Literature

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

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  • Boulvert, Y. (1977). Catalogue de la Flore de Centrafrique 2(2): 1-94. ORSTOM, Bangui.
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  • Cope, T.A., Knees, S.G. & Miller, A.G. (2007). Flora of the Arabian peninsula and Socotra 5(1): 1-387. Edinburgh University Press.
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  • Lebrun, J.P., Toutain, B., Gaston, A. & Boudet, G. (1991). Catalogue des Plantes Vasculaires du Burkina Faso: 1-341. Institut d' Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux, Maisons Alfort.
  • Lewalle, J. (1970). Liste floristique et répartition altitudinale de la flore du Burundi occidental: 1-84. Université officielle de Bujumbura.
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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
  • 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.
  • GBIF.org (2021). GBIF species matching tool. https://www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup
  • Medicinal Plant Names Services (MPNS) v.10 (2021); http://mpns.kew.org/

  • 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/
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Flora Zambesiaca

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

  • Flora of Somalia

    Flora of Somalia
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of West Tropical Africa

    Flora of West Tropical Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • 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 Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • 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