841 



a wealth of pasturage" (Burtt-Davy, Herb. Kew) ; "one of 

 the most palatable grasses, all stock eat it greedily and will 



leave most grasses to get to it " (Melle, '' Farmers' Weekly," 

 Pretoria, May 23rd, 1917 and see Kew Bull. 1921, p. 86). 



Perennial, with numerous stout rhizomes, running freely and 

 covering sometimes an area of several square yards from one 

 plant, low growing under dry conditions, 2|-3 ft. high, in 

 moist soil and in districts where the rainfall is over 30 in., 

 2-3 cuttings a season are estimated as a possible crop (Kew Bull, 

 I.e.); usually propagated in South Africa — as seeds are rarely 

 produced — by taking the grass out in sod, w^hich is cut up into 

 pieces *of about 3 in. square and planted out 6 ft. by 6 ft., or 

 G ft. by 3 ft. — at the latter rate it takes '' twenty bags of sod 

 to plant an acre " and on fairly good soil it may cover the ground 

 in a single season (Melle, Dept, Agric. Union S. Africa, Bull. 

 No 5, 1918, p. 32) to the exclusion of all other grasses or weeds 

 and grows well on any soil, on alluvial vlei, clay loam, sandy 

 soil, etc., but thrives best on moist vlei soil (ll.cc). 



This grass is not recorded from Nigeria; but it is recom- 

 mended for trial on the higher lands of the Northern Provinces. 



Ref, — " KLikuya Grass " ('' Agricultural Grasses and Their 

 Culture "), Melle, Dept. Agric. Union of S. Africa, Bull. No. 5, 



1918, pp. 32-35. '' Kikuya Grass {Pennisetum clandesfinum, 



Chiov.)," Stapf, in Kew Bull. 1921, pp. 85-93, 



Pennisetum pediceUatum, Trm. ; Fl, Trop. Afr. ined. 



Vernac. Thames. — [Kyasu, Kausuwa or Kamsua (Katagum), 

 Fura (Kano) Dalziel] ; Esu (Lagos, MacGregor, Dawodu), 



Kata 



Africa 



A fodder plant for cattle, Lagos (MacGregor, Herb. Kew). 



An annual, stems 1-3 ft, high, a very common bush-grass, 

 Katagum, a coarse tall grass with fluffy flowering heads, a 

 common pest in waste places, in towns, Kano, etc. (Dalziel, 

 Herb. Kew; Hausa Bot, Voc. p. 69); an annual found about 



Kew) 



Kew) 



Pennisetum polystachyum, Sckult, ; Fl, Trop. Afr. ined. [P. 



setosum, Rich, in Pers. Syn. ii. p. 729], 



III. — Trinius, Sp, Gram. Ic, t. 20; Kunth, Rev. Gram. i. 

 t. 39 (F. Eichardi)] Duthie, Indig. Fodder Gr. N. India, t. 49 

 (P. holcoides) ; Brown & Hunter, PL Uganda, p. 76 (P. setosum) ; 

 Hitchcock, Grasses, U.S. Dept. Agric, BuU, No. 772, 1920, 

 p. 248, f, 150 (P. setosum). 



Vernac. names. — Kansua, Kamsua or Kyasuwa (Hausa, 

 Dalziel) \ Fura (Kano, Dalziel) \ Bisagazi (Uganda, Brovm & 



Hunter). 



Nupe, Katagum, Lokoja, Jeba, in N. Nigeria, Lagos, Opobo, 



Ilosun, Ogurude (Cross River), Oban in S. Nigeria, Gold Coast 



and other parts of Tropical Africa, in India and Tropical America. 



