Setaria sphacelata (Schumach.) Stapf & C.E.Hubb ex M.B.Moss, Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: African bristle grass, golden timothy

French: queue de chien

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Habit: Perennial; caespitose. Rhizomes short, or elongated. Butt sheaths withering, or persistent and investing base of culm; with fibrous dead sheaths. Basal innovations subterete, or flabellate. Culms 20-300 cm long. Culm-nodes glabrous. Ligule a fringe of hairs. Leaf-blades flat, or convolute; 10-50 cm long; 2-17 mm wide. Leaf-blade apex acuminate. Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle spiciform; linear; 3-50 cm long. Primary panicle branches accrescent to a central axis; with evident branchlets on axis. Panicle axis pubescent. Spikelets subtended by an involucre. Fertile spikelets sessile; 1-4 in the cluster. Involucre composed of bristles; 1.5-12 mm long. Involucral bristles persistent; 6-15 in principal whorl; flexible; antrorsely scaberulous; glabrous. Fertile spikelets: Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets elliptic; dorsally compressed; 1.5-3.5 mm long; falling entire. Glumes shorter than spikelet; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume ovate; 0.25-0.5 times length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 3(-5) -veined. Lower glume apex obtuse, or acute. Upper glume ovate; 0.33-0.66(-0.75) times length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 5 -veined. Upper glume apex acute. Florets: Basal sterile florets male; with palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret ovate; 1 times length of spikelet; membranous; 5 -veined; acute. Fertile lemma ovate; dorsally compressed; gibbous; 1-3 mm long; indurate; without keel. Lemma surface rugose. Lemma margins involute. Lemma apex acute. Palea involute; indurate"  GrassBase.

"Tufted perennial, glabrous or nearly so, often with stout rhizomes; culms 0.5-1.5 m tall, flattened; blades flat, rather lax, 4-10 mm wide; panicle dense, cylindric, 8-15 cm long, usually orange to purple, bristles mostly 5 or more, 3-6 mm long; spikelets 2.5-3 mm long; fruit finely rugose"  (Hitchcock, 1971).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "in mesic pastures in Kokomo, Maui"  (Starr, Martz & Loope, 2000).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Africa and Yemen (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Saipan Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 59)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	introduced invasive	McCormack, Gerald (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2008)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 106)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T. (2004) (p. 10) Voucher cited: R. Kami s.n. (BISH 427545), R. Kami s.n. (BISH 516906)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T. (2004) (p. 10) Voucher cited: C. Imada & T. Perkins 2002-11 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Martz, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. (2002) (p. 23) Voucher cited: Starr & Martz 990804-1 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T. (2004) (p. 10) Voucher cited: K. Kawelo & J. Rohrer s.n. (BISH 687842)
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 62) "Cultivé en pâturages".
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 59)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie (2009) (p. 5) Voucher: Lorence 9835 (BNM, PTBG)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island		Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.) (1981) (voucher ID: BNM 3041) Taxon name on voucher: Setaria sphacelata (Schum.) Stapf. & Hubb.
Palau Palau (main island group)	Koror Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 59)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 131)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 131)
China China	China (People's Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 131)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 589) Persisting around experimental plots, where it was introduced.

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

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

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

References:

Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.). 1981. Voucher specimen #BNM3041(Timberlake, J. 3141).

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. 2002. World Grass Species: Descriptions, Identification, and Information Retrieval. The Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Edgar, E./Connor, H. 2000. Flora of New Zealand, vol. V: Gramineae. Manaaki Whenua Press. .

Fosberg, F. R. 1997. Preliminary checklist of the flowering plants and ferns of the Society Islands. Ed. by David R. Stoddart. U. Cal. Berkeley.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1987. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian monocotyledonae. Micronesica 20:1-126.

Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar. 1980. Grass weeds, vol. 1. CIBA-GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 142 pp. + plates.

Herbst, Derral R./Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T. 2004. New Hawaiian plant records for 2002-2003. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2003. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 78:3-12.

Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. 2008. Flora of the Marquesas Islands. National Tropical Botanical Garden and the Smithsonian Institution. Online database.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

McCormack, Gerald. 2008. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie. 2009. Report to the Republic of Palau: 2008 update on Invasive Plant Species. USDA Forest Service, Hilo, Hawai‘i. (In press).

Starr, Forest/Martz, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. 2002. New plant records from the Hawaiian archipelago. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2000. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 69:16-27.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.