Poaceae FAMILY

Eragrostis aethiopica

Edibility

1/5

Medicinal

0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Botanical Description

Eragrostis aethiopica is an erect or ascending annual grass that can grow up to 75 cm tall. The stem (culm) is slender, either solitary or tufted[ 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 seed is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as a food, but usually only as a last resort in times of food shortage.

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical

Native RangeAfrica - Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Angola, Zambia, Malawi. Mozambique, south to S. Africa, Madagascar.

HabitatSemi-desert and savannah areas on sand, silt or clay, in areas such as floodplain grassland, small vleis, pan edges and banks and beds of rivers, but also in disturbed habitats, such as roadsides and cultivated land, at elevations up to 1,600 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. ].