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Cynodon dactylon

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Photographs by: Dr. Maulik Gadani

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  • Botanical Name : Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.

  • Cynodon is derived from kyon means a dog and odous means tooth. Thus, it means Dog's tooth. Dactylon comes from a Greek word dactylos means finger which refers to the shape of the inflorescence.

  • Synonyms : Panicum dactylon L.
  • Common Name : Doub Grass, Bermuda Grass, Wire Grass, Couch Grass, Durva, Darbha Grass, Dharo
  • Plant Family : Poaceae (Gramineae)

  • According to the Rules of ICBN the names of the families should end in -aceae. Thus the new name for the family Gramineae became Poaceae. However, the name Gramineae is also exempted and conserved under 'Nomina Conservanda' because of their constant use for a long time.

  • Plant Form : Grasses
  • Occurrence (Sectors) : 1, 6, 8, 11-16, 18-21, 24, 27, 28, 30
  • Occurrence (Special Areas) : Gujarat Forestry Research Foundation, Indroda Park, Ayurvedic Udyan, Punit Van, Sarita Udyan, Van Chetana Kendra, Infocity

About Cynodon dactylon Plant :

  • Habit : A perennial creeping herb.
  • Stem : Slender, prostrate, widely creeping, forming matted tufts, with slender erect or ascending flowering branches 7.5-30 cm high.
  • Leaves : 2-10 cm x 1.2-3 mm, narrowly linear or lanceolate, finely acute to pungent, more or less glaucous, soft, smooth, usually conspicuously distichous in the barren shoots and at the base of the stems; sheaths tight, glabrous or hairy, sometimes bearded at the mouth; ligule a very fine ciliate rim.
  • Inflorescence : Spikes 2-6, radiating from the top of a slender peduncle, 2.5-5 cm long, green or purplish; rachis slender, compressed or angled, scaberulous.
  • Flowers :
    • Spikelets1.7-2.5 mm long; rachilla produced, very slender, equaling half the length of the spikelet.
    • Involucral glumes lanceolate, acute to subulate-mucronulate, the lower 1-1.6 mm long, the upper slightly longer; floral glume obliquely oblong to semiovate, about 2 mm long.
    • Anthers long, 1 mm long.
  • Seeds : Grains, 1 mm long.
  • Flowering and Fruiting Time : Throughout the year.
  • Significance :
    • Extensively used as fodder.
    • For preparing lawns in the gardens.
    • Sacred grass used in the Hindu rituals for worshipping Lord Ganeshaas well as used in certain various other religious ceremonies.