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<big>''[[Cenchrus prieurii]]'' (Kunth) Maire</big>
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Cenchrus prieurii'' (PROTA)}}
:Protologue: Bull. Mus. natn. Hist. nat., Paris, sér. 2, 3: 523 (1931).
:Chromosome number: 2''n'' = 34
== Origin and geographic distribution ==
== Description ==
*Loosely tufted, annual grass, with stems (culms) up to 80 cm tall. *Leaves alternate, simple and entire; ligule a line of hairs; blade linear, flat, 10–30 cm × 3.5–10 mm, finely acute. *Inflorescence a cylindrical spike-like panicle 5–12 cm × 2–4 cm, with 1–2 spikelets enclosed by an involucre of long bristles; rachis angular, scabrid, sinuous; involucre with many slender scabrid bristles 15–27 mm long and furnished with spines directed upwards, far exceeding the spikelet, fused at base. *Spikelet lanceolate, 4–5 mm long, acute, consisting of 2 glumes and usually 2 florets; glumes shorter than spikelet; lower floret male or sterile, its lemma as long as spikelet, membranous; upper floret bisexual, its lemma as long as spikelet, thinly leathery. *Fruit a dorsally compressed caryopsis (grain). == Other botanical information ==
''Cenchrus'' comprises about 20 species in tropical and warm temperate regions, mainly in Africa and the Americas. It is closely related to ''Pennisetum'', which differs in non-spiny inner involucral bristles free to the base.
''Cenchrus prieurii'' follows the C<sub>4</sub>-cycle photosynthetic pathway.
== Ecology ==
''Cenchrus prieurii'' is found in semi-arid and arid regions with an average annual rainfall of 200–500 mm, in open sandy locations up to 1000 m altitude. A study in western Niger showed that ''Cenchrus prieurii'' had become much more abundant and dominant in the late 1980s than it was in the early 1960s.
== Management ==
== Author(s) ==
* M. Brink , PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
== Correct citation of this article ==
Brink, M., 2006. '''Cenchrus prieurii''' (Kunth) Maire. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. In: Brink, M. & Belay, G. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>. Accessed {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}.
