Panicum novemnerve
Stapf
Black seed panicum
PoaceaeSeeds/Nuts
gbif · cc-by
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
gbif · cc-by
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
gbif · cc0
Conveyor Belt
Conveyor Belt
What to Eat
Edible parts: Seeds, Cereal, Grains
The seeds are used as a cereal grain.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. It grows in disturbed open places. It grows between 1,080-1,400 m altitude. It grows in areas with an annual rainfall between 300-400 mm. It can grow in arid places.
Africa, Botswana, East Africa, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Comoros, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe
How to Identify
An annual grass. It has stiff rough hairs. It grows 30-60 cm high. The leaf blade is 6-20 cm long. It is narrow and tapers to the tip. The flowering panicle is 10-20 cm long. It has many branches. The spikelets are about 2 mm long. They are narrowly oval.
Names & Synonyms
Kalya-nkanga, Koka-nkoka
References (6)
- Flora Zambesiaca. http://apps.kew.org/efloras
- Fowler, D. G., 2007, Zambian Plants: Their Vernacular Names and Uses. Kew. p 71
- Grivetti, L. E., 1980, Agricultural development: present and potential role of edible wild plants. Part 2: Sub-Saharan Africa, Report to the Department of State Agency for International Development. p 73
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 25
- 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]
- Scudder, 1962,
