Cynodon nlemfuensis Vanderyst, Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: African Bermuda grass, Bermudagrass, Rhodesian star grass, robust star grass

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Perennial; mat forming. Rhizomes absent. Stolons present; with alternating elongated and bunched internodes. Culms geniculately ascending; 30-60 cm long; 1-3 mm diameter; firm. Ligule a ciliolate membrane; 0.3 mm long. Leaf-blades flat; 5-16 cm long; 2-6 mm wide; stiff, or firm; mid-green, or glaucous. Leaf-blade surface scaberulous; glabrous, or pilose; sparsely hairy.  Inflorescence composed of racemes. Racemes 4-8(-13); digitate; straight, or flexuous; unilateral; 4-7(-10) cm long. Rhachis flattened. Spikelet packing broadside to rhachis; regular; 2-rowed.  Spikelets appressed; solitary. Fertile spikelets sessile.  Fertile spikelets comprising 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets ovate; laterally compressed; compressed strongly; 2-3 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret.  Glumes persistent; similar; subequal in width; shorter than spikelet; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume lanceolate; 1 length of upper glume; herbaceous; 1-keeled; 1-veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume lanceolate; 0.5-0.8 length of adjacent fertile lemma; herbaceous; 1-keeled; 1-veined. Upper glume lateral veins absent. Upper glume apex acute.  Florets: Fertile lemma ovate; laterally compressed; 2-3 mm long; cartilaginous; mid-green, or red; keeled; 3-veined. Lemma midvein pubescent, or ciliate. Lemma apex acute. Palea 2-veined. Palea keels eciliate.  Fruit a caryopsis with adherent pericarp"  (GrassBase).

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Central to southern Africa, "naturalized elsewhere, including s. United States" (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1520)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Wagner, Warren L. (1999) (p. 25) Voucher cited: Shipman s.n. (BISH 118468)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L. (2003) (p. 20) West Maui. Voucher cited: Oppenheimer H120102 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1520) Adventive
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Wagner, Warren L. (1999) (p. 25) Voucher cited: Herbst & Spence 5096 (BISH)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011) Texas

Additional information:
Additional online information about Cynodon nlemfuensis is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Cynodon nlemfuensis as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Cynodon nlemfuensis may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Clayton, W.D./Harman, K.T./Williamson, H. 2011. World Grass Species: Descriptions, Identification, and Information Retrieval [GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora]. The Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Herbst, Derral R./Wagner, Warren L. 1999. Contributions to the flora of Hawai‘i. VII. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1998. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 58:12-36.

Oppenheimer, Hank L. 2003. New plant records from Maui and Hawai‘i Counties. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001-2002. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 73:3-30.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).