Taxon: Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees

Summary

Genus:

Eragrostis

Family:

Poaceae (alt. Gramineae)

Subfamily:

Chloridoideae

Tribe:

Eragrostideae

Subtribe:

Eragrostidinae

Nomen number:

27889

Place of publication:

Fl. Afr. austral. ill. 397. 1841

Protologue link:

https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7363045

Verified:

05/07/1992 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

604 (549 active, 548 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

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

Basionym
Poa curvula Schrad.

Autonym(s)
Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees var. curvula

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Eragrostis chloromelas Steud.
Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees var. ampla ined.
Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees var. conferta Nees
Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees var. valida Stapf
Eragrostis jeffreysii Hack.
Eragrostis robusta Stent
Eragrostis subulata Nees

Images (5 total. Click on image for more.)

Links

Spikelets and/or florets – Seed ID Workshop image, from Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, Ohio State University

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health
Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
Alderson, J. & W. C. Sharp. 1995. Grass varieties in the United States, U.S.D.A. Agric. Handb. 170, rev. ed. CRC Press. Note: = Eragrostis curvula var. conferta
Allan, H. H. B. et al. 1961-. Flora of New Zealand.
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62
Burkill, H. M. 1994. The useful plants of west tropical Africa. 2:249.
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
Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas
Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
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).
Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
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.
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
International Seed Testing Association. 1982. A Multilingual Glossary of Common Plant-Names 1. Field crops, grasses and vegetables, ed. 2.
Kabelo, M. & D. Mafokate. 2004. A checklist of Botswana grasses. S. African Bot. Diversity Network Rep. 24:8.
Lazarides, M. 1997. A revision of Eragrostis (Eragrostideae, Eleusininae, Poaceae) in Australia. Austral. Syst. Bot. 10:111.
Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
Peterson, P. M. & J. Valdés-Reyna. 2005. Eragrostis (Poaceae: Chloridoideae: Eragrostideae: Eragrostidinae) from northeastern Mexico. Sida 21:1381-1383.
Peterson, P. M. et al. 2001. Catalogue of New World grasses (Poaceae): II. Subfamily Chloridoideae. Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 41:89.
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Radford, A. E. et al. 1964. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas.
Randall, R. P. 2007. The introduced flora of Australia and its weed status.
Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Sell, P. & G. Murrell. 1996-. Flora of Great Britain and Ireland.
Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Ugarte, E. et al. 2011. Vascular alien flora, Chile. Check List 7:365-380.
Veldkamp, J. F. 2002. Revision of Eragrostis (Gramineae, Chloridoideae) in Malesia. Blumea 47:173.
Vibrans, H., ed. Malezas de México (on-line resource).
Villaseñor, J. L. & F. J. Espinoza-Garcia. 2004. The alien flowering plants of Mexico. Diversity & Distrib. 10:113-123.
Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
Zeid, M. et al. 2012. Genetic diversity in tef (Eragrostis tef) germplasm using SSR markers. Field Crops Res. 127:64-70. Note: it apparently examined 13 wild species including Eragrostis curvula, and these accessions except by one grouped apart from E. tef
Zuloaga, F. O. et al. 1994. Catálogo de la familia Poaceae en la República Argentina. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 47 47:63.
2018. Mid-Atlantic invasive plant species (on-line resource)

Common names

Language	Name	Alternate name	note	seq	Citation
English	African love grass			1	Veldkamp, J. F. 2002. Revision of Eragrostis (Gramineae, Chloridoideae) in Malesia. Blumea 47:173.
English	Boer love grass		as Eragrostis curvula var. conferta	1	Alderson, J. & W. C. Sharp. 1995. Grass varieties in the United States, U.S.D.A. Agric. Handb. 170, rev. ed. CRC Press. Note: = Eragrostis curvula var. conferta
English	weeping love grass			1	Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
Afrikaans	oulandsgras			2	Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
Chinese	wan ye hua mei cao	弯叶画眉草		2	Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
Italian	eragrostide curvula			2	International Seed Testing Association. 1982. A Multilingual Glossary of Common Plant-Names 1. Field crops, grasses and vegetables, ed. 2.
Spanish	pasto llorón			2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Swedish	afrikanskt kärleksgräs			2	Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)

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	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		Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	Eswatini		Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	Lesotho		Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	Namibia		Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Cape Province	Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Free State	Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	KwaZulu-Natal	Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Transvaal	Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62
4	Naturalized	Africa	Macaronesia	Portugal	Madeira Islands	Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Africa	Northern Africa	Morocco		Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Armenia		Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Azerbaijan		Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Georgia		Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Turkey		Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Asia-Tropical	Papuasia	New Guinea		George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
4	Naturalized	Australasia	Australia	Australia		Hnatiuk, R. J. 1990. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11.
4	Naturalized	Australasia	New Zealand	New Zealand		Allan, H. H. B. et al. 1961-. Flora of New Zealand.
4	Naturalized	Europe	Middle Europe	Belgium		Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Middle Europe	Germany		Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Middle Europe	Switzerland		Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Northern Europe	United Kingdom		Sell, P. & G. Murrell. 1996-. Flora of Great Britain and Ireland.
4	Naturalized	Europe	Southwestern Europe	Portugal		Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Europe	Southwestern Europe	Spain		Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Northern America		Mexico		Villaseñor, J. L. & F. J. Espinoza-Garcia. 2004. The alien flowering plants of Mexico. Diversity & Distrib. 10:113-123.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	South-Central U.S.A.	United States	Texas	Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Georgia	Radford, A. E. et al. 1964. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	South Carolina	Radford, A. E. et al. 1964. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	Distrito Federal	Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	Minas Gerais	Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	Pará	Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	Paraíba	Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	Paraná	Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	São Paulo	Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Southern South America	Argentina		Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Southern South America	Chile		Ugarte, E. et al. 2011. Vascular alien flora, Chile. Check List 7:365-380.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Southern South America	Uruguay		Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.

Native
Africa

EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania
SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini, South Africa [Cape Province, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Transvaal]

Naturalized
Africa

MACARONESIA: Portugal [Madeira Islands]
NORTHERN AFRICA: Morocco

Asia-Temperate

WESTERN ASIA: Turkey
CAUCASUS: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia

Asia-Tropical

PAPUASIA: New Guinea

Australasia

AUSTRALIA: Australia
NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand

Europe

NORTHERN EUROPE: United Kingdom
MIDDLE EUROPE: Belgium, Switzerland, Germany
SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain, Portugal

Northern America

SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Georgia, South Carolina]
SOUTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [Texas]
REGION: Mexico

Southern America

BRAZIL: Brazil [Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraíba, Paraná, São Paulo, Distrito Federal]
SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina, Chile, Uruguay

Reference(s)

Allan, H. H. B. et al. 1961-. Flora of New Zealand.
Arnold, T. H. & B. C. De Wet, eds. 1993. Plants of southern Africa: names and distribution. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa no. 62
Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas
Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
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).
George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
Hnatiuk, R. J. 1990. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11.
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
Radford, A. E. et al. 1964. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas.
Sell, P. & G. Murrell. 1996-. Flora of Great Britain and Ireland.
Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Ugarte, E. et al. 2011. Vascular alien flora, Chile. Check List 7:365-380.
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		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Environmental	erosion control		Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
Environmental	revegetator		Gibbs-Russell, G. E. et al. 1990. Grasses of southern Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa vol. 58
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
Weed	seed contaminant	potential	Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds

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=27889. Accessed 15 April 2026.