Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus) is a plant species in Poaceae, a large and highly nutritious grass that is usually used for animal feed including cattle, goats, elephants, has resistance in the sun, has many varieties and cultivars.
C. purpureus grows upright like sugar cane and is up to 5 m high, 3 cm in diameter and easy to breed. The round stems, woody and hard, covered with leaf shields and haired, have up to 20 segments to grow new shoots that will become new stems.
Ribbon-shaped leaves, length 30-120 cm, width less than 3 cm, thin as paper. The upper surface is green, the lower surface is pale green, both surfaces and margins are rough by hair. A single bone in the middle, large and white.
Flowers grow in long bunches and erect with a golden color, grow at the tip of the uppermost stem, the seeds will have contents when growing at an altitude of more than 1000 meters. Leaves and stems contain 19.9% dry matter, 10.2% crude protein, 1.6% fat, 34.2% crude fiber, 11.7% ash and 42.3% extract material without nitrogen.
Napier grass is very adaptive and productivity remains high in a variety of soil textures and marginal land, but optimal production is 60-70% soil moisture, pH 6.5, 1000 mm/year rainfall and short days with critical photoperiods 13-12 hour.
TAXON
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Panicoideae
Tribe: Paniceae
Subtribe: Cenchrinae
Genus: Cenchrus L. in Sp. Pl.: 1049 (1753)
Species: Cenchrus purpureus (Schumach.) Morrone in Ann. Bot. (Oxford) 106: 129 (2010)
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS
Pennisetum purpureum Schumach. in Beskr. Guin. Pl.: 44 (1827)
HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS
Gymnotrix nitens Andersson in W.C.H.Peters, Naturw. Reise Mossambique 6(Bot., 2): 552 (1864)
Pennisetum benthamii Steud. in Syn. Pl. Glumac. 1: 105 (1854)
Pennisetum benthamii var. nudum Hack. in Denkschr. Kaiserl. Akad. Wiss., Wien. Math.-Naturwiss. Kl. 78: 400 (1905 publ. 1906)
Pennisetum benthamii var. sambesiense Hack. (1905 publ. 1906)
Pennisetum benthamii var. ternatum Hack. (1905 publ. 1906)
Pennisetum blepharideum Gilli in Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien 69: 41 (1966)
Pennisetum flavicomum Leeke in Z. Naturwiss. 79: 45 (1907)
Pennisetum flexispica K.Schum. in H.G.A.Engler, Pflanzenw. Ost-Afrikas, C: 105 (1895)
Pennisetum giganteum Regel in Trudy Imp. S.-Peterburgsk. Bot. Sada 8: 643 (1884)
Pennisetum gossweileri Stapf & C.E.Hubb. in Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1933: 274 (1933)
Pennisetum hainanense H.R.Zhao & A.T.Liu in J. Nanjing Technol. Coll. Forest Prod. 1982(4): 84 (1982)
Pennisetum lachnorrhachis Peter in Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 40(1, Anh.): 70 (1930)
Pennisetum macrostachyum Benth. in W.J.Hooker, Niger Fl.: 563 (1849)
Pennisetum nitens (Andersson) Hack. in Bol. Soc. Brot. 6: 142 (1888)
Pennisetum pallescens Leeke (1907)
Pennisetum pruinosum Leeke (1907)
Pennisetum purpureum subsp. benthamii (Steud.) Maire & Weiller in Fl. Afrique N. 1: 341 (1952)
Pennisetum purpureum subsp. flexispica (K.Schum.) Maire & Weiller (1952)
PUBLICATIONS
Gosline, G., Bidault, E., van der Burgt, X., Cahen, D., Challen, G., Condé, N., Couch, C., Couvreur, T.L.P., Dagallier, L.M.J., Darbyshire, I., Dawson, S., Doré, T.S., Goyder, D., Grall, A., Haba, P., Haba, P., Harris, D., Hind, D.J.N., Jongkind, & al. (2023). A Taxonomically-verified and Vouchered Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Republic of Guinea. Nature, scientific data 10, Article number: 327: [1]-[12].
Govaerts, R., Nic Lughadha, E., Black, N., Turner, R. & Paton, A. (2021). The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00997-6. Scientific Data 8: 215.
Menjívar Cruz, J.E., R.M. Baldini, G. Davidse & P.M. Peterson (2021). El Salvador grasses: An updated catalogue and nomenclator. Phytoneuron 2021-22: 1-131.
Middleton, D.J. & al. (eds.) (2019). Flora of Singapore 7: 1-525. Singapore Botanic Gardens.
Nurtjahya, E. & al. (2026). Flowering Plants of Bangka Island: Native and Introduced. Acta Botanica Hungarica 68: 127-156.
Plunkett, G.M., Ranker, T.A., Sam, C. & Balick, M.J. (2022). Towards a checklist of the vascular flora of Vanuatu. Candollea 77: 105-118.
Sauerbier, H., Cabrera Calixto, F. & Muer, T. (2023). Flora Vascular de Canarias: 1-1514. Turquesa.
Whistler, W.A. (2022). Flora of Samoa Flowering Plants: 1-930. National Tropical Botanicl Garden. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
VERNACULAR NAME
Afrikaans: Olifantsgras, M'fufugras
Chinese (Simplified): 象草
Chinese (Traditional): 紫狼尾草, 象草
English: Napier grass, M'Fufu Grass, Napier Fodder, Umfufu Grass, Elephant grass, Uganda grass
Filipino: Buntot-pusa, Handalawi, Lagoli
Finnish: Elefanttisulkahirssi
French: Pennisète pourpre
Hebrew: זיף-נוצה ארגמני
Hong Kong: 象草
Indonesian: Rumput Gajah
Japanese: エレファントグラス - ナピアグラス
Lithuanian: Dramblinė soruolė
Macao: 象草
Malaysia: Rumput gajah
Portuguese: Anapiê, Capim-elefante
Slovak: Ostroklas savanový
Spanish: Pasto Taiwan
Taiwan: 象草
Thai: หญ้าเนเปีย
Vietnam: Co' duôi voi
Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium