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Pennisetum purpureum

Elephant Grass

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Image:	Leaves and flower head	78KB
Image:	Details flowers and leaf-base	63KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Elephant Grass, Elephant's Grass, Napier Grass

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE tropical Africa

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land, lowlands

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Weed - moderate

KEY FEATURES: Perennial grass to 2m. STALK to 1cmØ, with white wax; nodes swollen and rooting. LEAVES blades to 80x3cm, midrib prominent below, edges toothed; ligule dense row of white hairs to 3mm; base with scattered white hairs to 8mm. FLOWERS form elongate spiky cylinder, to 30x2cm (excluding longest bristles); SPIKELETS 1-5 per sessile fascicle; bristles to 2cm.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum, not presently known in the Cooks) has flower head pink-purple (vs. yellow-brown); ligule a dense row of silky hairs 1-2mm (vs. 2-3mm); leaf blade to 60cm (vs. to 80cm); flower fascicles stalked 1-3mm, with 1-3 spikelets (vs. sessile with1-5 spikelets).

Enlarged Image of 'Pennisetum purpureum'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: -
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+++	+	P	-	-	-	-	-	-

Northern Group: -
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.
TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); COMMELINIDAE; Cyperales; POACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Weed - moderate. Comments: NBSAP - Mangaia ( ---- serious weed beside Nursery)

GENERAL NOTE: OK fodder grass

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Mangaia: fieldspecimen, near Nursery, 9/2001, positive ID GM based on leaves, flowers absent. Being eradicated.

References:
p.1579 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.76 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.837 Hortus 3rd
p.1/358 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.416 Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02, zupD05a

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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