Urochloa, commonly known as signalgrass, is a genus of plants in the grass family, native to tropical and subtropical regions of Eurasia, Africa, Australia, the Americas, and various islands.
Several species of the genus Urochloa are cultivated as forage and some species of were probably first introduced unintentionally to the Americas in the colonial period, from slave ships. Urochloa eminii was introduced to Brazil in 1952. Urochloa is the most widely used tropical grass in Central and South America, with about 40 million hectares planted in Brazil alone.
Biology
This genus was described in 1812. It is similar to the genus Panicum, and some authors believe Panicum is ancestral to it. A phylogenetic analysis concluded that species of the former genus Brachiaria formed a monophyletic group with those of Urochloa, along with the genera Eriochloa and Melinis, and that further molecular and morphological work is needed to establish clear relationships.
Urochloa species are annual or perennial grasses, most lacking rhizomes. The inflorescence is a branching panicle, and the plant reaches about a meter in height. The plants are bisexual and the flowers are fleshy, with 3 anthers. Some species have a prominent vein in the center of the leaf. Brachiaria are C4 species and can tolerate drier conditions and more light exposure than some other plants.
↑ Cite error: The named reference kum was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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1 2 3 4 Watson, L. and M. J. Dallwitz. (2008). Brachiaria. Archived January 15, 2013, at the Wayback Machine The Grass Genera of the World. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
↑ Clayton, W. D., et al. (2002 onwards). Brachiaria. GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora.
Ecology and conservation
Cultivated Brachiaria
Urochloa species can grow in many environments, from swamps to shady forest to semidesert, but generally do best in savannas and other open tropical ecosystems such as in East Africa. In Angola, Urochloa...
