| DESCRIPTION: It is a densely tufted, coarse grass with culms much branched from a stout, woody rhizome. It has a shrub-like growth form. It is up to 100 cm in diameter and 20-75 cm in height. USE: Useful for sand dune stabilization. It is very palatable and well utilized by stock and game despite its hardness and woodiness. GROWING PERIOD: Annual to shortly perennial. COMMON NAMES: Gha grass, Ghagras, Ikagras. FURTHER INF: It is a hardy species which is obviously well adapted to climatic extremes of moisture, temperature and insolation. It favours loose, sandy substrates and grows almost exclusively on dunes of coarse to fine windblown sand. It is found most frequently in deep red Kalahari sand and gravely soils where it is a common species, mainly on dune slope communities. It has the C4 photosynthetic pathway. |
