Madikwe Grass Checklist

Grasses of the sweetveld plains, the sourer mountain slopes and the Kalahari sands.

32 entries · tick boxes are included, so you can print it and take it on a drive.

Filter this list 32 entries

	Common name	Scientific name	Notes
Sweetveld (palatable) grasses
	Blue Buffalo Grass	Cenchrus ciliaris	Highly palatable and drought-hardy; one of the best grazing grasses in the reserve.
	Bushveld Signal Grass	Urochloa mosambicensis	Palatable; often on disturbed but fertile soils.
	Common Finger Grass	Digitaria eriantha	Excellent grazing; an indicator of veld in good condition.
	Couch Grass	Cynodon dactylon	Kweek. Withstands heavy grazing and trampling; dominates around waterholes.
	Guinea Grass	Megathyrsus maximus	Where: shade under trees and along drainage lines. Very palatable.
	Red Grass	Themeda triandra	Rooigras. The classic climax grass of healthy veld; declines under heavy grazing.
	Sand Quick	Schmidtia pappophoroides	A valuable sandveld grazing grass.
	Silky Bushman Grass	Stipagrostis uniplumis	Where: the Kalahari sands in the west.
	Small Buffalo Grass	Panicum coloratum	Where: heavier clay soils.
	Tall Bushman Grass	Stipagrostis ciliata
	Wool Grass	Anthephora pubescens	Palatable and drought-resistant.
Sourveld & mixed grasses
	Blue Seed Grass	Alloteropsis semialata
	Broad-leaved Turpentine Grass	Cymbopogon caesius
	Common Thatching Grass	Hyparrhenia hirta	Used for thatching; poor grazing when mature.
	Fine Thatching Grass	Hyparrhenia filipendula
	Heart-seed Love Grass	Eragrostis superba	Large heart-shaped spikelets; a useful pioneer.
	Spear Grass	Heteropogon contortus	Assegaaigras. Sharp seeds drill into socks and animal hide.
	Turpentine Grass	Cymbopogon plurinodis	Aromatic when crushed; unpalatable once mature.
	Weeping Love Grass	Eragrostis curvula	Widely used for reclamation of bare ground.
	Wire Grass	Elionurus muticus	Unpalatable; increases on overgrazed sandy veld.
Pioneer & disturbance grasses
	Annual Three-awn	Aristida adscensionis	A pioneer of bare and trampled ground.
	Bottlebrush Grass	Perotis patens	Fine purple bottlebrush heads on sandy ground.
	Common Crowfoot	Dactyloctenium aegyptium	Where: bare disturbed ground and around waterholes.
	Goose Grass	Eleusine indica
	Herringbone Grass	Pogonarthria squarrosa	An indicator of sandy, overgrazed veld.
	Natal Red Top	Melinis repens	Pink-red feathery heads along roadsides in late summer.
	Nine-awned Grass	Enneapogon cenchroides	A pioneer on disturbed, fertile soils.
	Tassel Three-awn	Aristida congesta	An indicator of veld degradation.
Shade & wetland grasses
	Broad-leaved Panicum	Panicum deustum	Where: shade under trees and in thickets.
	Bulrush	Typha capensis	Not a true grass, but a defining plant of the reedbeds.
	Common Reed	Phragmites australis	Where: the Marico River and permanent seeps.
	Sedges	Cyperus spp.	Several species in the wetlands and pan margins; triangular stems distinguish them from grasses.