Eleusine

finger millet
goosegrass
Eleusine indica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Chloridoideae
Genus: Eleusine
Gaertn.
Type species
Eleusine coracana
(L.) Gaertn.[1][2]
Synonyms[3]
  • Elevsine Gaertn., alternate spelling

Eleusine is a genus of Asian, African, and South American plants in the grass family,[3][4] sometimes called by the common name goosegrass.[5][6] One species (E. indica), is a widespread weed in many places. Another species E. coracana, is finger millet, cultivated as a cereal grain in India and parts of Africa.[7]

Species[8][9]
  1. Eleusine africana - Africa (from South Africa to Egypt + Senegal), Madagascar, Comoros, Sinai, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman
  2. Eleusine coracana - tropical Africa; naturalized in parts of Asia (Arabia, India, China, Japan, Indonesia, etc.), Western Australia, Fiji, Micronesia, etc.
  3. Eleusine floccifolia - Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen
  4. Eleusine indica - Asia, Africa, Papuasia; naturalized in Mediterranean, Australia, Americas, various islands
  5. Eleusine intermedia - Kenya, Ethiopia
  6. Eleusine jaegeri - Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda
  7. Eleusine kigeziensis - Ethiopia, Uganda, Zaïre, Rwanda, Burundi
  8. Eleusine multiflora - Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Eritrea, Yemen, Saudi Arabia; naturalized in South Africa, Mexico, Lesotho
  9. Eleusine semisterilis - Kenya
  10. Eleusine tristachya - Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile incl Juan Fernández Islands
formerly included[8]

numerous species once included in Eleusine but now considered better suited to other genera: Acrachne Aeluropus Chloris Coelachyrum Dactyloctenium Dinebra Disakisperma Eragrostis Harpochloa Leptochloa Ochthochloa Sclerodactylon Uniola Wangenheimia

External links

References

  1. ↑ lectotype designated by Nash in Britton & Brown, Ill. Fl. N. U.S. (ed. 2) 1: 228 (1913)
  2. ↑ Tropicos, Eleusine Gaertn.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gaertner, Joseph. 1788. De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum 1: pages 7-8 descriptions and figure captions in Latin
  4. ↑ Gaertner, Joseph. 1788. De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum 1: Plate I (1), figure XI (11 a-i) line drawings of Eleusine coracana
  5. ↑ Multilingual Eleusine common names
  6. ↑ US Department of Agriculture Plants Profile
  7. ↑ USDA Genetic Resources Information Network
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  9. ↑ The Plant List search for Eleusine