Dactyloctenium giganteum
Dactyloctenium giganteum
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
A plant of the drier tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 2,000 metres[1]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 22 - 30°c, but can tolerate 2 - 42°c[2]. It can be killed by temperatures of -6°c or lower, though new growth can be damaged at -1°c[2]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 450 - 500mm, but tolerates 400 - 700mm[2]. Requires a sunny position[1]. Favours light, sandy soils in the wild[1]. Requires a well-drained soil[2]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 6.5, tolerating 5 - 7[2]. The plant can commence flowering within 30 - 45 days of germinating, and ripens its seed in 60 - 80 days[2].
Propagation
Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Dactyloctenium+giganteum>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]Edible Wild Plants of Tanzania — Ruffo, C.K.: Birnie, A. & Tengnas, B. · Regional Land Management Unit; Nairobi. · 2002 · ISBN 9966-896-60-0 ↩︎A very well presented, simple guide to growing and utilizing wild food plants in Tanzania, with line drawings of each plant, a description, habitat and range, non-food as well as food uses, plus basic information on growing the plants.
- [2]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
- [3]Flora Zambesiaca — http://apps.kew.org/efloras/fz/intro.html ↩︎An excellent online flora of plants from the Zambezi River basin. It lists a number of the plant uses as well as the habitats and botanical descriptions of the plants.