Blue signal grass (Brachiaria leersioides)

Datasheet

Description

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Blue signal grass (Brachiaria leersioides), habit

Blue signal grass (Brachiaria leersioides), stem

Blue signal grass (Brachiaria leersioides), inflorescence

Common names

Blue signal grass

Species

Brachiaria leersioides (Hoschst.) Stapf [Poaceae]

Taxonomic information

Many Brachiaria species, including Brachiaria leersioides, have been placed by some authors in the Urochloa genus, so the taxon Urochloa leersioides is often considered as the correct one. However, these changes remain disputed and even recent papers still refer to Brachiaria leersioides (Torres González et al., 2005).

Related feed(s)

Description

Blue signal grass (Brachiaria leersioides (Hoschst.) Stapf) is an annual grass that grows in semi-arid areas (Göhl, 1982). It provides grazing during the dry season (Ibrahim et al., 1988; Bogdan, 1958).

Morphology

Blue signal grass is a caespitose, tufted annual grass. Its culms are erect and geniculate, slender, 15-70 cm tall. The leaves are mostly cauline, hairy, bluish in colour. The leaf blades are 2-20 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, linear, flat, spreading. The inflorescence is a 3-20 cm long panicle bearing 3-14 racemes along a central axis. Blue signal grass racemes are 1-7 cm long, deflexed or spreading, unilateral (Ibrahim et al., 2016). Spikelets are about 3 mm long (Bogdan, 1958). There are often waxy deposits on the inflorescence (Quattrocchi, 2006).

Distribution

Brachiaria leersioides is native of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Chad, Saudi Arabia, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique (Ibrahim et al., 1988). It is also reported in Egypt (Ibrahim et al., 2016). Blue signal grass can be found from sea level to an altitude of 1800 m, in semi-arid regions, in dry grassland and on sandy wadis and shallowstony soils (Quattrocchi, 2006; Ibrahim et al., 1988). It can grow in light shade, in bush and open scrub, but also in woodland (Quattrocchi, 2006). It only seldom forms colonies but usually occurs scattered between other grasses and herbs (Dougall et al., 1965).

Nutritional aspects

Nutritional attributes

Nutritional information about Brachiaria leersioides is scarce. It seems to be a grass of relatively poor to medium quality with a protein content of 9-12% DM.

Ruminants

Very little information is available about the use of Brachiaria leersioides by ruminants. An early report noted that it was grazed by elephants (Dougall et al., 1965) while a later study reported that it represented a minute part of the diet of sheep and Grant's gazelles (Nanger granti) in Kenya (Kilonzo, 2003).

Rabbits

No information seems available in the international literature on the use of Brachiaria leersioides in rabbit feeding (2017). However, this grass is used without problems by wild and domestic ruminants, in Kenya for example (Kilonzo, 2003). Other Brachiaria species such as Brachiaria decumbens, B. ruziziensis, B. mutica or Brachiaria brizantha are commonly used to feed rabbits, mainly as a source of fibre. Blue signal grass is most probably a potential source of forage for rabbits, but experiments would be necessary before extensive use.

Nutritional tables

Tables of chemical composition and nutritional value

Blue signal grass (Brachiaria leersioides), aerial part, fresh

Avg: average or predicted value; SD: standard deviation; Min: minimum value; Max: maximum value; Nb: number of values (samples) used