Family: Poaceae
Group: Monocot
Substrate:
Terrestrial
Habit:
Herb
Perennation:
Annual
Native Range: South Florida, the West Indies, Mexico, Central America, and South America; naturalized elsewhere.
Map of select IRC data for peninsular Florida
Florida Natural Areas Inventory State Status:
Presumed Extirpated or Extinct
IRC SOUTH FLORIDA Status:
Presumed Extirpated or Extinct in the Wild
SOUTH FLORIDA Occurrence:
Presumed Extirpated
SOUTH FLORIDA Native Status:
Native
South Florida History and Distribution: Ranked as presumed extirpated in Rare Plants of South Florida (
Gann et al. 2002, pp 67-68), based on numerous collections between 1846 and 1930 in the Florida Keys, and a single, possibly introducted population vouchered in Miami-Dade County on the mainland in 1963. A 2010 specimen collected on Key Largo (
Bradley 2713 FTG) does not match the key characters and is likely
Cenchus echinatus.
SOUTH FLORIDA Cultivated Status:
Not Cultivated
Comments: The spikelet of this species most closely resembles that of
Cenchrus echinatus, with the spines in two series, the inner flatenned and the outer rounded and forming a ring at the base. It differs in that the mature bur is smaller, 2.7-4.2 mm wide excluding the spines, and 4-5.3 mm long, versus 4.1-6.3 mm wide and 5.3-8 mm long. Click
here for an excellent image of
Cenchrus brownii collected in Panama. For an image of the bur from a live plant, click on the USDA PLANTS link below.
Synonyms: C. viridis.
