Taxon:  Eragrostis tenuifolia (A. Rich.) Hochst. ex Steud.



Summary
Genus:
Eragrostis
Family:
Poaceae (alt. Gramineae)
Subfamily:
Chloridoideae
Tribe:
Eragrostideae
Subtribe:
Eragrostidinae
Nomen number:
15323
Place of publication:
Syn. pl. glumac. 1:268.  1854
Verified:
05/07/1996 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
4 (4  active, 4  available) in National Plant Germplasm System.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Basionym
Poa tenuifolia A. Rich.

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Eragrostis collocarpa K. Schum.

Images (4 total. Click on image for more.)
Embryo drawing

Conservation Status

Reference(s)
  1. APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
  2. 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
  3. Davidse, G. et al., eds. 1994. Flora mesoamericana.
  4. Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
  5. Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
  6. Harden, G. J., ed. 1990-1993. Flora of New South Wales.
  7. Harling, G. & B. Sparre, eds. 1973-. Flora of Ecuador.
  8. Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
  9. Hnatiuk, R. J. 1990. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11.
  10. Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953-1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2.
  11. Lazarides, M. & B. Hince. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia
  12. Lazarides, M. 1980. The tropical grasses of Southeast Asia
  13. Lazarides, M. 1997. A revision of Eragrostis (Eragrostideae, Eleusininae, Poaceae) in Australia. Austral. Syst. Bot. 10:161-162.
  14. Migahid, A. M. 1978. Flora of Saudi Arabia, ed. 2.
  15. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  16. Shukla, U. 1996. Grasses of north-eastern India
  17. Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
  18. Veldkamp, J. F. 2002. Revision of Eragrostis (Gramineae, Chloridoideae) in Malesia. Blumea 47:187.
  19. Wood, J. R. I. 1997. A handbook of the Yemen flora.
  20. Zon, A. P. M. van der. 1992. Graminées du Cameroun
Common names
LanguageNameAlternate namenoteseqCitation
Englishelastic grass  1Lazarides, M. & B. Hince. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNoteReference
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaKenya  Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaTanzania  Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaUganda  Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaEritrea   
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaEthiopia  Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMalawi  Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMozambique  Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZambia  Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZimbabwe  Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaCape Provincee. 
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaKwaZulu-Natal  
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaTransvaal  
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaNigeria   
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCameroon  Zon, A. P. M. van der. 1992. Graminées du Cameroun
1NativeAfricaWestern Indian OceanMadagascar   
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaSaudi Arabia   
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaYemen  Wood, J. R. I. 1997. A handbook of the Yemen flora.
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndia  Shukla, U. 1996. Grasses of north-eastern India
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentSri Lanka   
4Naturalized    widely natzd. 
6Other    exact native range obscure 
Native
Africa
  • NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Eritrea, Ethiopia
  • EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
  • WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Cameroon
  • WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Nigeria
  • SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe
  • SOUTHERN AFRICA: South Africa [Cape Province (e.), KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal]
  • WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: Madagascar
Asia-Temperate
  • ARABIAN PENINSULA: Saudi Arabia, Yemen
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India, Sri Lanka
Naturalized (widely natzd.)
Other (exact native range obscure)

Reference(s)
  1. Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
  2. Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
  3. Shukla, U. 1996. Grasses of north-eastern India
  4. Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
  5. Wood, J. R. I. 1997. A handbook of the Yemen flora.
  6. Zon, A. P. M. van der. 1992. Graminées du Cameroun
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Animal foodforage Lazarides, M. & B. Hince. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia
Weed  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=15323. Accessed 15 April 2026.