See other conspecific taxa:

• Megathyrsus maximus var. coloratus (0 accessions)
• Megathyrsus maximus var. maximus (0 accessions)
• Megathyrsus maximus var. pubiglumis (0 accessions)

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations:

(≡ homotypic synonym, = heterotypic synonym, - autonym, I invalid designation)

• (=) Panicum hirsutissimum Steud.
• Basionym: Panicum maximum Jacq.
• (=) Panicum maximum var. hirsutissimum (Steud.) Oliv.
• (≡) Panicum maximum var. maximum Jacq.
• (=) Panicum maximum var. trichoglume Robyns
• (≡) Urochloa maxima (Jacq.) R. D. Webster

Common names:

• green panic grass  (Source: Pl Res SEAs) - English
• Guinea grass  (Source: World Econ Pl) - English
• herbe de Guinée  (Source: Dict Rehm) - French
• Guineagras  (Source: Dict Rehm) - German
• erba della Guinea  (Source: Mult Glossary Crops) - Italian
• capim-colonião  (Source: Dict Rehm) - Portuguese (Brazil)
• mijo de Guinea  (Source: Dict Rehm) - Spanish
• pasto Guinea  (Source: Dict Rehm) - Spanish
• guineagräs  (Source: Kulturvaxtdatabas) - Swedish

Economic Importance:

• Animal food: fodder (as P. maximum) forage (the most important cultivated forage grass in tropical America, as P. maximum)
• Vertebrate poisons:
• Weed: potential seed contaminant (as P. maximum) potential seed contaminant (as P. maximum)

Distributional Range:

Native

Africa

• NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan
• EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
• WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo
• WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Benin, Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone
• SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe
• SOUTHERN AFRICA: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa
• WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: Madagascar, Mauritius

Asia-Temperate

• ARABIAN PENINSULA: Yemen


Cultivated

Asia-Temperate

• CHINA: China [Guangdong Sheng]
• EASTERN ASIA: Japan, Taiwan


Naturalized

Australasia

• AUSTRALIA: Australia [New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia (s.e.), Western Australia, Northern Territory]
• NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand

Northern America

• SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Florida]
• Mexico

Pacific

• NORTH-CENTRAL PACIFIC: United States [Hawaii]

Southern America

• CARIBBEAN: Bahamas, Cuba, Guadeloupe, Hispaniola, Jamaica, United States [Puerto Rico]
• CENTRAL AMERICA: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama
• NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: French Guiana, Guyana
• BRAZIL: Brazil [Amazonas, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, São Paulo]
• WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, [Galápagos] Ecuador, [Galápagos] Peru
• SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina, Paraguay

References:

1. Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. Flora of the West Indies (on-line resource).
2. Barbosa de Sousa, A. C. et al. 2011. Molecular diversity and genetic structure of Guineagrass (Panicum maximum Jacq.), a tropical pasture grass. Trop. Pl. Biol. 4:185-202. Note: = Panicum maximum Jacq.
3. Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
4. Giraldo-Cañas, D. 2011. Catálogo de la familia Poaceae en Colombia. Darwiniana 49:139-247.
5. Howell, C. J. & J. W. D. Sawyer. 2006. New Zealand naturalised vascular plant checklist Note: = Panicum maximum Jacq.
6. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares. Note: recognizes vars. maximus and pubiglumis
7. International Seed Testing Association. 1982. A Multilingual Glossary of Common Plant-Names 1. Field crops, grasses and vegetables, ed. 2.
8. Kabelo, M. & D. Mafokate. 2004. A checklist of Botswana grasses. S. African Bot. Diversity Network Rep. 24:1-16. Note: = Panicum maximum Jacq.
9. Randall, R. P. 2007. The introduced flora of Australia and its weed status.
10. Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants Note: = Panicum maximum Jacq.
11. Tovar, Ó. 1993. Las gramíneas (Poaceae) del Perú. Ruizia 13:322. Note: = Panicum maximum Jacq.
12. Villaseñor, J. L. & F. J. Espinoza-Garcia. 2004. The alien flowering plants of Mexico. Diversity & Distrib. 10:113-123. Note: = Panicum maximum Jacq.
13. Wagner, W. L. et al. Flora of the Hawaiian Islands (on-line resource). Note: = Urochloa maxima (Jacq.) R. D. Webster
14. Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition). Note: = Panicum maximum Jacq.
15. Wunderlin, R. & B. Hansen. Atlas of Florida vascular plants (on-line resource). Note: = Panicum maximum Jacq.
16. Catalogue of New World grasses (Poaceae) (on-line resource).
17. Plants of southern Africa: an online checklist. Note: = Panicum maximum Jacq.

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2024. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN-Taxonomy).
National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL: http://gringlobal.iita.org/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=447623. Accessed 1 July 2024.