Miscanthus ecklonii
(Nees) Mabb.
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Description
A grass. A herb. It is an erect grass and can keep growing from year to year. It is a very robust plant. It grows 3 m high. The flowering shoots are 40 cm long. They are brownish. The spikelets have stalks.
Edible Uses
The rhizome (tubers) is chewed raw, and seeds are used for meal and as a famine food, especially eaten by children.
Traditional Uses
The rhizome (tubers) is chewed raw. The seeds are used for a meal. They are a famine food.
This uses section is brief — help expand it
Distribution
It is a Mediterranean climate plant. It grows in soils that are sometimes waterlogged. It can grow in arid places. In Swaziland it grows in the high veld only.
Where It Grows
Africa, East Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Southern Africa, Swaziland,
Other Information
It is eaten especially by children.
Notes
There are about 20 Miscanthus species.
Synonyms
References (8)
- Guillarmod, J., 1966, (As Miscanthus capensis)
- Guillarmod, J., 1971, (As Miscanthus capensis)
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 24 (As Miscanthus capensis)
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 3rd June 2011] (As Miscanthidium capensis)
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 89
Show all 8 references Hide references
- Swaziland's Flora Database http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora (As Miscanthus capensis)
- van Wyk, Be, & Gericke, N., 2007, People's plants. A Guide to Useful Plants of Southern Africa. Briza. p 9 (As Miscanthus capensis)
- Welcome, A. K. & Van Wyk, B.-E., 2019, An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 122 (2019) 136–179
