Name
Curly Leaf, Curly Leaved Love Grass
Latin Name
Eragrostis rigidior
Uses
It is an average grazing grass with hard and relatively few leaves. It is an important grazing grass in arid parts, where it can occur in abundance. Its common occurrence in veld is an indicator of disturbance.
Description
Length up to 1 m. The Broad Curly Leaf is a perennial grass. Dry leaves are open and curled. Inflorescence is a panicle with the lower branches arranged in a whorl. Lower leaf sheaths are papery. It sometimes has tufts of leaves and/or roots on the lower nodes.
Habitat
Curly Leaf Grass usually grows in disturbed places such as old cultivated lands and in bare patches in overgrazed and/or eroded veld. It is mostly found in sandy and loam soil. It occurs in southern Africa and East Africa as far as Kenya and Uganda. It mostly occurs in warm regions.
Flowers
October - May in South Africa
