Panicum turgidum

Botanical Description

Desert grass is a much-branched, perennial tussock-grass with smooth, solid culms growing 1 - 2 metres tall and rooting at the nodes[ 332 Title The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. Publication Author Burkil. H. M. Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. Year 1985 - 2004 ISBN Description Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/ ]. The plant forms rounded tussocks up to 1.5 metres wide, with a thick rootstock and a fibrous root system up to 2 metres deep that spreads laterally for up to 3.5 metres[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The edible seeds are often gathered in quantity from the wild for local use, though they are seen more as a food to be used in times of shortage[ 332 Title The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. Publication Author Burkil. H. M. Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. Year 1985 - 2004 ISBN Description Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/ ]. The plant is extremely drought-resistant, and with its clear value to peoples on marginal subsistence it ought to be subjected to selection for improved strains to be brought into cultivation[ 332 Title The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. Publication Author Burkil. H. M. Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. Year 1985 - 2004 ISBN Description Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/ ].