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Graminae
Synonyms
D. swynnertonii Rendle.
Common names
Milanje finger grass (South America, southern Africa), woolly
finger grass (Fiji).
Description
A stoloniferous perennial 60-120 cm high with erect culms and
long leaf-blades. Four to 11 racemes, digitate or subdigitate with pubescent
spikelets 2.5- 3 cm long, stout yellow bristles and long hairs occasionally
present (Napper, 1965). It differs from D. smutsii in being stoloniferous
and having the nerves of the lower lemma scabrid from minute spines (Meredith,
1955). Its characteristic rough spikelets can be felt by stroking the racemes
downwards (Chippendall & Crook, 1976). It is a tall plant with bright
green leaves which, in the young stages, form a tuft on the ground. The
flower is very tall and has six to 12 long racemes given off from the apex
of the stalk (Parham, 1955).
Distribution
Originated in the Zontpansberg district of northern Transvaal.
Altitude range
Sea-level to 1 700 m.
Rainfall requirements
It requires a rainfall in excess of 375 mm.
Soil requirements
It prefers sandy soils in Zambia (Verboom & Brunt, 1970)
and also occurs on red soil stream banks in Kenya. On heavy black seasonally
waterlogged soils it occurs as a tufted type, on red soil as a creeping,
stoloniferous variety.
Response to defoliation
In an experiment at Serdang, Malaysia, a mixture of Brachiaria
decumbens, Digitaria milanjiana and Panicum maximum receiving 150 and 300
kg/ha per year of nitrogen as urea was grazed at six, eight and ten beasts
per hectare. After 26 months of grazing, D. milanjiana remained as only
3 percent of the pasture grazed at ten beasts per hectare, and after 29
months it had died out of the eight- and ten-beast-per-hectare plots (Ajij
Singh Sidhu et al., 1977).
Response to fire
It is severely affected by fire (Skovlin, 1971).
Dry-matter and green-matter
yields
In Fiji, an average yield of 6 328 kg DM/ha with a crude protein
content of 8.7 percent was obtained over a three-year period (Roberts,
1970a, b).
Suitability for hay and
silage
Successful silage was made at Gualaca, Panama by Medling (1972)
in plastic bags with 10 percent molasses added.
Cultivars
'MRD.1. Digit'.
Main attributes
One of the very first species to recover after extreme drought.
It remains green throughout the year in Kenya.
Main deficiencies
A poor seed producer.
Palatability
It is extremely palatable.
Response to photoperiod
At Florida University, with a temperature of 25-30°C, D.
milanjiana produced twice as much dry matter at eight hours with 1.5 hours
light interruption of the dark period, than at 9.5 hours (Gaskins &
Sleper, 1974). It flowered in 79-96 days at 14 hours and 132-151 days at
11 hours (Degras, Mathurin & Félicité, 1974).arv
Natural habitat
Woodland and thicket. Common in disturbed areas and abandoned
cultivations.
Fertilizer requirements
It responds quite well to nitrogen (Clatworthy, 1970).
Compatibility with other
grasses and legumes
It has been grown successfully in combination with Trifolium
semipilosum and Lotononis bainesii in Zimbabwe (Clatworthy, 1970).
Genetics and reproduction
2n=18 (Fedorov, 1974).
Drought resistance
Excellent.
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