Taxon: Setaria megaphylla (Steud.) T. Durand & Schinz

Summary

Genus:

Setaria

Family:

Poaceae (alt. Gramineae)

Subfamily:

Panicoideae

Tribe:

Paniceae

Subtribe:

Cenchrinae

Nomen number:

33827

Place of publication:

Consp. fl. afric. 5:773. 1894

Protologue link:

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/29403527

Verified:

06/02/1997 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

5 (3 active, 1 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

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

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Setaria chevalieri Stapf & C. E. Hubb.
Setaria plicatilis (Hochst.) Hack. ex Engl.

Images (2 total. Click on image for more.)

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

African plant database. Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques Ville de Geneve. Note: accessed August 2023
Bor, N. L. 1960. The grasses of Burma, Ceylon, India, and Pakistan. Note: mentions; introduced in India
Brenner, D. M. et al. 2019. Chapter 2. North American wild relatives of grain crops. In: Green, S. L. et al., North American crop wild relatives. Volume 2. Important species. 2:41-82. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-97121-6_2. Note: cited African Setaria megaphylla as an understudied species, and a probable member of the tertiary gene pool of foxtail millet
Clayton, W. D. 1979. Notes on Setaria (Gramineae). Kew Bull. 33:501-509. Note: this study recognized perennial Setaria megaphylla Raddi as a distinct species from S. sulcata, both members of the Setaria palmifolia complex
Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America. Note: as a perennial, hexaploid
Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource). Note: accessed August 2023
Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares. Note: accessed August 2023
Kaur, H. et al. 2011. New chromosome numbers reported in grasses from Himachal Pradesh (India). Chromosome Bot 6:13-16. Note: a perennial diploid 2n=18
Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953-1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2.
Kellogg, E. A. et al. 2020. Checklist of the grasses of India. PhytoKeys 163:281. DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.163.38393. Note: as Setaria sulcata Raddi
Morrone, O. et al. 2014. Revision of the Old World species of Setaria (Poaceae: Panicoideae: Paniceae). Syst. Bot. Monogr. 96:121. Note: as Setaria sulcata Raddi
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Wunderlin, R. & B. Hansen. Atlas of Florida vascular plants (on-line resource). Note: an introduced species
Zon, A. P. M. van der. 1992. Graminées du Cameroun

Common names

Language	Name	Alternate name	note	seq	Citation
English	big-leaf bristle grass			1	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America. Note: as a perennial, hexaploid
English	ribbon bristle grass			1	Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	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	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	Eswatini
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	Lesotho
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	Namibia
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Cape Province		Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Free State		Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	KwaZulu-Natal		Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Transvaal		Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Ghana
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Liberia
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Nigeria			Clayton, W. D. 1979. Notes on Setaria (Gramineae). Kew Bull. 33:501-509. Note: this study recognized perennial Setaria megaphylla Raddi as a distinct species from S. sulcata, both members of the Setaria palmifolia complex
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Sierra Leone
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Togo
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Cameroon			Zon, A. P. M. van der. 1992. Graminées du Cameroun
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Gabon			Clayton, W. D. 1979. Notes on Setaria (Gramineae). Kew Bull. 33:501-509. Note: this study recognized perennial Setaria megaphylla Raddi as a distinct species from S. sulcata, both members of the Setaria palmifolia complex
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Himachal Pradesh		Kaur, H. et al. 2011. New chromosome numbers reported in grasses from Himachal Pradesh (India). Chromosome Bot 6:13-16. Note: a perennial diploid 2n=18
1	Native	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	Bahia		Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource). Note: accessed August 2023
1	Native	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	Espírito Santo		Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource). Note: accessed August 2023
1	Native	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	Minas Gerais		Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource). Note: accessed August 2023
1	Native	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	Rio de Janeiro		Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource). Note: accessed August 2023
2	Cultivated					also cult.
4	Naturalized					natzd. elsewhere, incl. s.e. United States (Florida)

Native
Africa

EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Cameroon, Gabon
WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo
SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini, South Africa [Cape Province, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal]

Asia-Tropical

INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India [Himachal Pradesh]

Southern America

BRAZIL: Brazil [Bahia, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro]

Cultivated (also cult.)
Naturalized (natzd. elsewhere, incl. s.e. United States (Florida))

Reference(s)

Clayton, W. D. 1979. Notes on Setaria (Gramineae). Kew Bull. 33:501-509. Note: this study recognized perennial Setaria megaphylla Raddi as a distinct species from S. sulcata, both members of the Setaria palmifolia complex
Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource). Note: accessed August 2023
Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
Kaur, H. et al. 2011. New chromosome numbers reported in grasses from Himachal Pradesh (India). Chromosome Bot 6:13-16. Note: a perennial diploid 2n=18
Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Zon, A. P. M. van der. 1992. Graminées du Cameroun

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Animal food	forage		Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
Environmental	ornamental		Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58

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=33827. Accessed 12 May 2026.