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Cenchrus biflorus Roxb.

Indian sandbur (en), Cramcram (fr), Cenchrus à deux fleurs (fr), Cram-cram (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Poales > Poaceae > Cenchrus

Characteristics

Tufted annual to 800 mm high. Leaf blade 60-350 x 4-10 mm; ligule a fringed membrane. Inflorescence a false spike 20-100 mm long; bearing spikelet clusters in a burr, base of burr a distinct ovoid disc, involucre of two whorls; outer whorl of 40-60 short, bristle-like spines; inner whorl with connate spines which are plumose on their inner surface and 1-3 shallow grooves on their outer surface. Spikelet 5 x 4 mm; upper lemma thinly coriaceous; anther 0.8-1.2 mm long.
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Annual, tufted, up to 0.8 m high. Leaf blades 60-350 mm long, 4-10 mm wide. Spikelets 5 mm long, 4 mm wide. Inflorescence a false spike 20-100 mm long; spikelet involucre in 2 whorls, inner whorl with connate spines which are plumose on their inner surface and with 1-3 shallow grooves on their outer surface, outer whorl bristle-like and short, 40-60 spines; base of burr with a distinct ovoid disc.
An annual grass. It grows 10-60 cm high. It forms tufts. It has runners, The leaves are alternate and simple. They are 2-25 cm long and 2-7 cm wide. The flowers are green. They are in a spike like panicle. This is 2-15 cm long and has 1-3 spikelets.
Pending.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination anemogamy
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.4 - 0.78
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) 1.25
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c4

Environment

A tropical plant. It grows on sand dunes and sandy plains. It is collected in the Sahel. It suits areas with 260-650 mm annual rainfall. It cannot tolerate frost. It can grow in salty or alkaline soils. It grows from sea level to 1,300 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.
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Usually found on dry sandy soils and in cultivated, overgrazed or otherwise disturbed areas, at elevations up to 1,300 metres. It is extremely abundant in the Sahel and southern Sahara, where it may form massive stands.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture 5-6
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

Seeds are eaten raw, used in bread or for making porridge. It is also used to make a drink as a milk substitute.
Uses animal food environmental use fodder food gene source material medicinal poison social use
Edible leaves seeds
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

It can be grown from seed. Seed germinate best at 35°C.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) 28 - 35
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Cenchrus biflorus habit picture by Maarten Vanhove (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Cenchrus biflorus flower picture by Maarten Vanhove (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Cenchrus biflorus world distribution map, present in Angola, Åland Islands, Australia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Congo, Cabo Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Kenya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Senegal, Singapore, Somalia, Chad, Togo, Tanzania, United Republic of, United States of America, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:395201-1
WFO ID wfo-0000858562
COL ID 69GLW
BDTFX ID 14962
INPN ID 89475
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Cenchrus annularis Cenchrus barbatus Cenchrus biflorus Cenchrus leptacanthus Cenchrus perinvolucratus Cenchrus niloticus Cenchrus lapeta Cenchrus rajasthanensis Cenchrus triflorus Elymus caput-medusae Cenchrus catharticus
WorldFloraDB 2024