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Graminae
Common names
Boer love grass (United States).
Description
Plants with short, dense, basal tufts of filiform, curling
leaves; inflorescence open and lax, branches filiform, flexible, purplish;
spikelets spreading, not appressed to the branches. It is very similar
to E. curvula in that both the culms are not branched (Chippendall, 1955).
It is a tufted perennial. The basal leaves provide most of the forage.
The seed-heads are distinctly diamond shaped.
Distribution
Africa. Introduced to the United States.
Season of growth
Spring through summer to autumn.
Rainfall requirements
Around 625 mm (Bogdan & Pratt, 1967).
Drought tolerance
Adapted to semi-desert conditions and very drought resistant.
Soil requirements
Loose sandy loams and loams (Bogdan & Pratt, 1967).
Ability to spread naturally
It spreads well by seed.
Land preparation for establishment
A rough seed-bed prepared with a disc harrow is needed.
Sowing methods
Broadcast.
Sowing depth and cover
Surface sow and cover lightly.
Sowing time and rate
Sow in summer at about 200 g/ha.
Number of seeds per kg.
6.6 million (naked caryopses) (Bogdan & Pratt, 1967).
Main attributes
Its ability to produce green feed in the spring and continue
into summer and autumn.
Frost tolerance
It is easily killed by frost (Humphrey, 1960a).
Palatability
Its palatability is rather low (Bogdan & Pratt, 1967) in
Kenya but Humphrey (1960a) states that cattle make good use of Boer love
grass in Arizona, especially in autumn when other grasses have dried off.
Chemical analysis and
digestibility
No figures have been cited.
Genetics and reproduction
2n=40, 60, 63 (Fedorov, 1974).
Seed production and harvesting
The seed is in the form of naked caryopses of good quality
that are easy to handle (Bogdan & Pratt, 1967).
Economics
It is a valuable grass in semi-desert tropical grassland areas.
Animal production
It is hardy and persistent under moderately dry conditions
and has been used with fair success in reseeding rangeland at West Pokot
and around Baringo in Kenya (Bogdan & Pratt, 1967).
Further reading
Humphrey, 1960a.
Tolerance to salinity
It is not well adapted to alkaline soils.
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