Eleusine africana
Kenn.-O'Byrne
African goose grass, African finger millet
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(c) Shaun Swanepoel, some rights reserved (CC BY)
iNaturalist· cc-by
(c) Shaun Swanepoel, some rights reserved (CC BY)
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(c) Rob Palmer, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
Description
A herb. It is an annual millet grass that forms tussocks. It grows 1 m tall. The leaves are mostly near the base. The leaf blades are 5-35 cm long by 3-6 mm wide. The flower is made up of 3-17 finger like racemes. They are 4-17 cm long. The spikelets have fertile 309 fertile flowers. The seeds are 1.2-1.6 mm long and black.
Edible Uses
The seeds are eaten as a cereal grain and serve as a famine food.
Traditional Uses
Caution: It can contain prussic acid.
This uses section is brief — help expand it
Known Hazards
The plant can contain prussic acid.
Distribution
It is a tropical plant. It grows in dry soils. It grows between 330-2,400 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places. It can be in damp sandy soils near rivers. In Zimbabwe it grows between 1,490-1,910 m above sea level. It germinates best at temperatures of 23°C.
Where It Grows
Africa*, Angola, Arabia, Asia, Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Britain, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo, Cuba, East Africa, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Europe, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Guianas, Guinea, Guinée, India, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Middle East, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Pacific, Peru, Rwanda, Sahel, Saudi Arabia, Scandinavia, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, South America, Southern Africa, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, USA, West Africa, West Indies, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Cultivation
Plants can be grown from seeds.
Production
Plants grow quickly.
Other Information
It is a famine food. It is sometimes cultivated.
Notes
There are 9 Eleusine species. Probably edible. It has been confused with Eleusine indica in records.
Synonyms
References (5)
- Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 301
- Molla, A., Ethiopian Plant Names. http://www.ethiopic.com/aplants.htm
- 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]
- Wiersema, J. H. & Leon, B., 2013, World Economic Plants. A Standard Reference CRC Press. 2nd Ed. p 268
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
