Ischaemum ciliare Retzius
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Ischaemum ciliare Retzius
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Gramineae
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Author: L.’t Mannetje |
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Batiki blue grass, smutgrass (En). Ratana (Sp.), Indonesia: blembem (Javanese), rumput padang (Billiton). Malaysia: rumput gerek telinga. Thailand: ya wai (eastern), ya-yonhu (southern). Origin and geographic distribution Batiki blue grass is native to South and South-East Asia. It was introduced to West Africa, southern Europe, Australia, the Pacific Islands and humid tropical regions of South and Central America. A perennial, spreading or tufted stoloniferous grass rooting at the nodes, with erect or geniculate culms up to 60 cm tall, often branching and hairy at the nodes. Leaf-sheath 3-6 cm long, often tight, glabrous or sparsely hairy; ligule membranous, truncate, 1-2 mm long, entire or lacerate; leaf-blade narrowly lanceolate, up to 20 cm x 1 cm, acuminate at apex, usually sparsely to densely hairy. Inflorescence well exerted, composed of two terminal, closely opposed or somewhat divergent racemes 2-10 cm long; spikelets paired, bisexual, one sessile, one pedicelled, alternately on one side of the triangular rachis; rachis and pedicel hairy along angles; lower glume winged at apex, forming 2 large obtuse lobes; upper lemma deeply notched, excurving into a long kneed and twisted awn 8-15 mm long. I. ciliare is a very variable species, subdivided into 3 varieties with one variety divided into 3 subvarieties, but the whole complex needs a thorough investigation with modern experimental taxonomical methods (Baki et al. 1992). Use It is used as forage and also as a cover grass to bind soil and reduce erosion. A dwarf form is used for lawns. Properties Nitrogen concentrations ranged in experiments from 2.2% at 3 weeks to 1.7% at 6 weeks, 1.3% at 8 weeks and to below 1.0% in mature forage. DM digestibility ranged from 48.70 to 65.98% (Rosas et al. 1976). There have been reports that it taints milk. Toxicity None has been reported. Ecology Batiki blue grass is an opportunistic invader of open or disturbed habitats. It is adapted to a wide range of rainfall regimes, including waterlogged areas in the wet tropics receiving over 2000 mm annual rainfall and to seasonally dry monsoonal areas of India. It has been reported as having some shade tolerance. It is a short-day plant, flowering throughout the year in Malaysia, in June-July in Thailand, and in July-August and January-February in India. Soil requirements Batiki blue grass tolerates acid soils and soils with poor fertility, but responds to applications of fertilizer on such soils. Propagation and planting Batiki blue grass can readily be established from rooted cuttings and a spacing of 30 cm x 30 cm has been recommended. Establishment from seed is much slower and requires good seed-bed preparation. Growth and development Seeds have a dormancy period and germination improves after 9-10 months storage. Seedling growth is vigorous. Seed set is often poor and the grass spreads primarily by stolons. Diseases and pests Flowers are often infected with a smut fungus resulting in diseased inflorescences that do not emerge from the uppermost leaf-sheaths (Viswanathan et al. 1998). Performance It is usually harvested by grazing animals, but can be cut and fed fresh or used to make hay and silage. It should be cut at booting as quality is poor if left for longer. Four cuts a year are possible. Dry matter yields of Batiki blue grass have ranged from 3-20 t/ha per year depending primarily on soil fertility and fertilizer application (Ng 1976). When grown with Stylosanthes guianensis (Aublet) Swartz in Sarawak, the mixture yielded 14.5 t/ha of DM. Batiki blue grass is a useful forage plant in several areas of South-East Asia and the Pacific Islands. It is a competitive grass and resists weed invasion. It is palatable, well grazed and can persist under heavy grazing. There are good prospects for its use, especiallly in plantation crops and in moist areas (Dunsmore and Ong 1969; Ranacou 1986). Link
Link for the genus
Baki B.B. et al. (1992); Dunsmore J.R. and Ong C.B. (1969); Ng, T.T. (1976); Ranacou E. (1986); Rosas H. et al. (1976); Viswanathan R. et al. (1998). |