Dactyloctenium scindicum — Edible Plant Database

What to Eat

Edible parts: Seeds, Grains, Cereal

The seeds are mixed with millet and eaten as a grain; used as a famine food.

Known Hazards

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It often grows over limestone material. It grows in dry soil. It grows between 60-830 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.

Afghanistan, Africa, Asia, Australia, East Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Middle East, North Africa, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Angola, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Bahrain, Burundi, Benin, Brunei, Bhutan, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, China, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Comoros, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Mongolia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Maldives, Malawi, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sudan, Singapore, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Syria, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A cereal grass. It forms stolons or runners and keeps growing from year to year. It forms mats. It grows 7-45 cm high. The stalks are slender with swollen bases. The leaf blades are tough and loosely folded. They are 1-11 cm long by 2-3 mm wide. The seed is about 1 mm long.

Other Information

It is a famine food.

Notes

There are 13 Dactyloctenium species.

Names & Synonyms

Bhobra, Ganthi, Kuschon, Madax-buur, Saddexo, Sadeho, Tantia ghas

Dactyloctenium glaucophyllum CourbaiDactyloctenium glaucophyllum var. elongation CourbaiDactyloctenium glaucophyllum var. robustior CourbaiEleusine glaucophylla (Courbai) Benth.Eleusine scindica (Boiss.) DuthieEleusine aristata Ehrenb. ex Boiss.

References (5)

Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 160
BHANDARI,
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 8th May 2011]
SHANKARNARAYAN & SAXENA.,
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew