Panicum pansum

Rendle

Poaceae Edible: Seeds, Cereal 5 iNaturalist observations

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Description

An annual grass. It grows 20-100 cm high. The leaf blades are narrow and 8-30 cm long by 5-7 mm wide. The flower panicle is 15-40 cm long. It is branched and spreading.

Edible Uses

The seeds are eaten as a cereal grain.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows in waste places and wooded grassland in West Africa.

Where It Grows

Africa, Angola, Burkina Faso, Central Africa, Congo, East Africa, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, West Africa, Zambia,

Other Information

It is occasionally harvested as food.

Notes

There are about 500 Panicum species.

Synonyms

Panicum kerstingii Mez

Also Known As

Ilulo kputo, Tobaku

References (6)

Abbiw, D.K., 1990, Useful Plants of Ghana. West African uses of wild and cultivated plants. Intermediate Technology Publications and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. p 26
Burkill, H. M., 1985, The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vol. 2. Kew.
Dalziel, 1948, (As Panicum kerstingii)
Fowler, D. G., 2007, Zambian Plants: Their Vernacular Names and Uses. Kew. p 71
Gallagher, D. E., 2010, Farming beyond the escarpment: Society, Environment, and Mobility in Precolonial Southeastern Burkina Faso. PhD University of Michigan.

Show all 6 references