Taxon: Eragrostis superba Peyr.

Summary

Genus:

Eragrostis

Family:

Poaceae (alt. Gramineae)

Subfamily:

Chloridoideae

Tribe:

Eragrostideae

Subtribe:

Eragrostidinae

Nomen number:

15319

Place of publication:

H. Wawra & J. J. Peyritsch, Sitzungsber. Kaiserl. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math.-Naturwiss. Cl. 38:584. 1860

Comment:

Peyritsch authored all monocots in this treatment (see p. 582)

Verified:

03/16/1995 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

77 (57 active, 56 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Images (1 total. Click on image for more.)

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

Plants of southern Africa: an online checklist.
Alderson, J. & W. C. Sharp. 1995. Grass varieties in the United States, U.S.D.A. Agric. Handb. 170, rev. ed. CRC Press. Note: Revised version of AH 170
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Bor, N. L. 1960. The grasses of Burma, Ceylon, India, and Pakistan.
Burkill, H. M. 1985-2004. The useful plants of west tropical Africa.
CIBA-GEIGY, Basel, Switzerland. Documenta CIBA-GEIGY (Grass weeds 1. 1980, 2. 1981; Monocot weeds 3. 1982; Dicot weeds 1. 1988) Note: four books on weeds worldwide in scope
Davidse, G. et al., eds. 1994. Flora mesoamericana.
Englert, J. M. et al. 1999-. USDA-NRCS Improved conservation plant materials released by NRCS and cooperators
Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names
Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
Hnatiuk, R. J. 1990. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11.
Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
Kartesz, J. T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland.
Lazarides, M. 1997. A revision of Eragrostis (Eragrostideae, Eleusininae, Poaceae) in Australia. Austral. Syst. Bot. 10:156.
Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
Peterson, P. M. & J. Valdés-Reyna. 2005. Eragrostis (Poaceae: Chloridoideae: Eragrostideae: Eragrostidinae) from northeastern Mexico. Sida 21:1415.
Peterson, P. M. et al. 2001. Catalogue of New World grasses (Poaceae): II. Subfamily Chloridoideae. Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 41:111.
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Randall, R. P. 2007. The introduced flora of Australia and its weed status.
Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.
Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Thulin, M., ed. 1993-. Flora of Somalia.
Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Villaseñor, J. L. & F. J. Espinoza-Garcia. 2004. The alien flowering plants of Mexico. Diversity & Distrib. 10:113-123.

Common names

Language	Name	seq	Citation
English	heart-seed grass	1	Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
English	sawtooth love grass	1	Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
English	Wilman love grass	1	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Afrikaans	weeluiseragrostis	2	Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
German	Herzstraubgras	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Portuguese (Brazil)	capim-Massai	2	Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names
Spanish	pasto avena	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Reference
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Kenya		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Tanzania		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Uganda		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Ethiopia		Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Somalia		Thulin, M., ed. 1993-. Flora of Somalia.
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Sudan		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Angola		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Malawi		Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Mozambique		Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Zambia		Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Zimbabwe		Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	Botswana		Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	Namibia		Plants of southern Africa: an online checklist.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Cape Province	Plants of southern Africa: an online checklist.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Free State	Plants of southern Africa: an online checklist.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	KwaZulu-Natal	Plants of southern Africa: an online checklist.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Transvaal	Plants of southern Africa: an online checklist.
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Democratic Republic of the Congo
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Gabon
4	Naturalized	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India
4	Naturalized	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Pakistan
4	Naturalized	Australasia	Australia	Australia		Randall, R. P. 2007. The introduced flora of Australia and its weed status.
4	Naturalized	Northern America		Mexico		Villaseñor, J. L. & F. J. Espinoza-Garcia. 2004. The alien flowering plants of Mexico. Diversity & Distrib. 10:113-123.

Native
Africa

NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia
EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon
SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa [Cape Province, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal]

Naturalized
Asia-Tropical

INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India, Pakistan

Australasia

AUSTRALIA: Australia

Northern America

REGION: Mexico

Reference(s)

Plants of southern Africa: an online checklist.
Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
Randall, R. P. 2007. The introduced flora of Australia and its weed status.
Thulin, M., ed. 1993-. Flora of Somalia.
Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Villaseñor, J. L. & F. J. Espinoza-Garcia. 2004. The alien flowering plants of Mexico. Diversity & Distrib. 10:113-123.

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Animal food	fodder		Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
Animal food	forage		Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
Environmental	erosion control		Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
Environmental	revegetator		Alderson, J. & W. C. Sharp. 1995. Grass varieties in the United States, U.S.D.A. Agric. Handb. 170, rev. ed. CRC Press. Note: Revised version of AH 170
Weed	seed contaminant	potential	CIBA-GEIGY, Basel, Switzerland. Documenta CIBA-GEIGY (Grass weeds 1. 1980, 2. 1981; Monocot weeds 3. 1982; Dicot weeds 1. 1988) Note: four books on weeds worldwide in scope

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=15319. Accessed 15 April 2026.