Editing Eragrostis

{{Short description|Genus of grasses}}
{{Redirect|Lovegrass|the album|Lovegrass (album)}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Starr_020124-8001_Eragrostis_cilianensis.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Eragrostis cilianensis]]''<br/>Maui, Hawai'i
| display_parents = 3
| taxon = Eragrostis
| authority = [[Nathanael Matthaeus von Wolf|Wolf]]<ref name="GRIN">{{GRIN genus|id=4330 |name=''Eragrostis'' Wolf |access-date=25 February 2011  }}</ref>
| type_species = ''[[Eragrostis eragrostis ]]''<br/>(syn of ''E. cilianensis'')
| type_species_authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]) [[Nathanael Matthaeus von Wolf|Wolf]]<ref>{{cite POWO |id=30000628-2 |title=''Eragrostis'' Wolf}}</ref>
| synonyms_ref = <ref name=u/>
| synonyms = *''Acamptoclados'' <small>Nash</small>
*''Boriskellera'' <small>Terechov</small>
*''Diandrochloa'' <small>De Winter</small>
*''Erochloe'' <small>Raf.</small>
*''Erosion'' <small>Lunell</small>
*''Macroblepharus'' <small>Phil.</small>
*''Neeragrostis'' <small>Bush</small>
*''Psilantha'' <small>(K.Koch) Tzvelev</small>
*''Roshevitzia'' <small>Tzvelev</small>
}}

'''''Eragrostis''''' is a large and widespread [[genus]] of plants in the [[Poaceae|grass family]], found in many countries on all inhabited continents and many islands.<ref>{{citation |last=Wolf |first=Nathanael Matthaeus von |year=1776 |title=Genera Plantarum Vocabulis Characteristicis Definita |volume=23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:apni.taxon:321130#tab_classification |website=Atlas of Living Australia |title=''Eragrostis'' Wolf Love Grasses}}</ref><ref>{{efloras|2|111900}}</ref><ref>{{efloras|5|111900}}</ref><ref>[http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/floraspecie.php?genere=Eragrostis Altervista Flora Italiana, genere ''Eragrostis'']</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://bonap.net/NAPA/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Eragrostis|title=2013 BONAP North American Plant Atlas. TaxonMaps|work=BONAP.net|access-date=29 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://redlist.sanbi.org/genus.php?genus=1367|title=Threatened Species Programme - SANBI Red List of South African Plants|work=SANBI.org|access-date=29 March 2017}}</ref>

''Eragrostis'' is commonly known as '''lovegrass'''<ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS |id=40716 |taxon=''Eragrostis'' |access-date=4 March 2011}}</ref> or '''canegrass'''. The name of the genus is derived from the [[Greek language|Greek]] words ἔρως (''érōs''), meaning "love", and ἄγρωστις (''ágrōstis''), meaning "grass".<ref>{{cite book |title=CRC World Dictionary of Grasses |volume=II E-O |first=Umberto |last=Quattrocchi |isbn=978-0-8493-1303-5 |year=2006 |publisher=CRC Press |page=805}}</ref>

Lovegrass is commonly used as [[livestock]] [[fodder]]. The seeds appear to be of high nutritional value for some animals, but they are also very tiny and collecting them for human food is cumbersome and hence uncommon. A notable exception is [[Eragrostis tef|teff]] (''[[Eragrostis tef|E. tef]]''), which is used to make traditional [[bread]]s on the [[Horn of Africa]], such as [[Ethiopia]]n ''[[injera]]'' and [[Somalia]]n ''[[laxoox]]''. It is a crop of commercial importance. ''[[Eragrostis clelandii|E. clelandii]]'' and ''[[Eragrostis tremula|E. tremula]]'' are recorded as [[famine food]]s in [[Australia]] and [[Chad]], respectively.<ref>{{cite web|last=Freedman |first=Robert |year=1998 |url=http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/FamineFoods/ff_families/POACEAE.html |title=Famine Foods – Poaceae or Graminae|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206031104/http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/FamineFoods/ff_families/POACEAE.html |archive-date=2007-02-06  |accessdate=12 November 2007}}</ref>

Other species, such as ''[[Eragrostis amabilis|E. amabilis]]'', are used as [[ornamental plant]]s. ''[[Eragrostis cynosuroides|E. cynosuroides]]'' is used in the ''[[Puja (Hinduism)|pūjā]]'' rites in the [[Karighatta temple|Hindu temple at Karighatta]]. Bahia lovegrass (''[[Eragrostis bahiensis|E. bahiensis]]'') is known as a [[hyperaccumulator]] of [[caesium-137]] and can be grown to remove the highly [[toxic]] [[radioactive]] atoms from the environment. [[Weeping lovegrass]] (''[[Eragrostis curvula|E. curvula]]'') has been planted extensively to prevent [[soil erosion]].

[[Seed dispersal]] is often done by passing animals; the grains' hooks latch on to fur or hair, or to clothes. Others are wind or gravity dispersed. Several [[herbivore]]s feed on lovegrass, including [[invertebrate]]s such as the [[caterpillar]]s of the [[Zabulon skipper]] (''Lon zabulon'') and [[vertebrate]]s. The [[extinct]] [[bluebuck]] (''Hippotragus leucophaeus'') was known to graze these grasses. The dense bunches also provide cover for small animals such as the rare [[Botteri's sparrow]] (''Aimophila botterii''). Lovegrasses may be important groundcover on oceanic islands like [[Laysan]], where other plants are rare.

==Taxonomy==
{{See also|List of Eragrostis species}}
''Eragrostis'' is the type genus of the [[tribe (biology)|tribe]] [[Eragrostideae]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30235916#page/328/mode/1up|title=Flora capensis: being a systematic description of the plants of the Cape colony, Caffraria, & Port Natal (and neighbouring territories) |first1=Thiselton-Dyer|last1=W. T. |date=1 January 1897|volume=7 Pt 2|access-date=29 March 2017 |publisher=Lovell Reeve & Co}}</ref><ref>{{tropicos|50063013|Eragrostideae Stapf|access-date=29 March 2017}}</ref>

;Formerly included<ref name=u/>
Many species now considered better suited to other genera, including ''[[Cladoraphis]] [[Coelachyrum]] [[Desmazeria]] [[Diplachne]] [[Ectrosia]] [[Festuca]] [[Harpachne]] [[Poa]]'' etc.

<gallery>
Starr 041229-2580 Eragrostis atropioides.jpg|''[[Eragrostis atropioides]]'' flowers
Starr 050208-3896 Eragrostis curvula.jpg|[[Eragrostis curvula|weeping lovegrass]] (''Eragrostis curvula'')
Eragrostis 1ziarnek.jpg|[[Eragrostis minor|little lovegrass]] (''Eragrostis minor'')
Starr 010520-0040 Eragrostis variabilis.jpg|''[[Eragrostis variabilis]]''
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=u>{{cite web|url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=451476|title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|work=Kew.org|access-date=29 March 2017}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*{{Wikispecies-inline}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070704063740/http://utc.usu.edu/keys/Eragrostis/Eragrostis.html  Interactive Key to ''Eragrostis'' of North America]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q161088}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Eragrostis| ]]
[[Category:Poaceae genera]]
[[Category:Grasses of Africa]]
[[Category:Grasses of Asia]]
[[Category:Grasses of Europe]]
[[Category:Grasses of North America]]
[[Category:Grasses of Oceania]]
[[Category:Grasses of South America]]