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Pennisetum hohenackeri Steud. and C.E. Hubbard |
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Graminae P. catabasis Stapf. A perennial, 90-150 cm high with stout, compressed culms forming dense tussocks. The false spike is 10-25 cm long, dense with spikelets 6.5-9.0 mm long, surrounded by numerous bristles, the longest one up to 20 mm long. It occurs in swampy grassland or vleis in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania (common on the Mara Plateau near Musoma, Tanzania), at elevations of 1 000-2 000 m. The chromosome number is 2n=18 (Fedorov, 1974). Dougall and Bogdan (1958) recorded 6.9 percent crude protein, 40.2 percent crude fibre, 5.8 percent ash, 2.0 percent ether extract and 45.1 percent nitrogen-free extract in the dry matter of fresh material in the early bloom stage in Kenya. It is of low palatability. It can be eradicated by ploughing or hoeing.
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