Sporobolus humilis (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Sporobolus humilis Presl subsp. minor Veldk.

Family: Gramineae

Synonyms

• Sporobolus tremulus auct., non (Willd.) Kunth.

Distribution

Pakistan and India, possibly in Indo-China. In the Malesian region only in Java and the Philippines.

Uses

Useful for erosion control. It may prove valuable as a fodder.

Observations

• Tufted and mat-forming perennial grass with short rhizomes and long slender stolons.
• Leaves very narrow.
• Spikelets 1-flowered, 1.4-2.1 mm long, glabrous, not awned, in contracted, spiciform panicle of 1-3 cm × 2-4 mm; glumes slightly shorter than the spikelet.

S. humilis subsp. minor is found near the coast and inland in open scrub vegetation and along wet rice fields; in India up to 750 m altitude. Subsp. humilis, which is found in Indo-China, Java and the Philippines, has a less compact habit, larger panicles and smaller spikelets.

Selected sources

• Baaijens, G.J. & Veldkamp, J.F., 1991. Sporobolus (Gramineae) in Malesia. Blumea 35: 393-458.
• Bor, N.L., 1960. The grasses of Burma, Ceylon, India and Pakistan (excluding Bambuseae). Pergamon Press, Oxford, United Kingdom. 767 pp.
• Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, the Hague, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 261, 1450 pp.

Authors

• M.S.M. Sosef & L.J.G. van der Maesen