Napier grass
ಆನೆ ಹುಲ್ಲುநேப்பியர் புல்नेपियर गवत
Cenchrus purpureus (Schumach.) Morrone
- light
- Sun–part
- water
- Little
- tall
- 4.0 m
- wide
- 51 cm
Poaceae
Also called Elephant grass, M'Fufu Grass, Napier Fodder, Umfufu Grass, Cane grass
Formerly Gymnotrix nitens, Pennisetum benthamii, Pennisetum blepharideum, Pennisetum flavicomum, and 9 more
When it flowers
Not known yet in the tropics: too few flowering observations to read a season from.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Perennial or rhizomatous geophyteKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- Seasonally dry tropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- Sahara to Trop. Africa, Aldabra, Arabian Pen.Kew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun to part shade (3 h or more)Read from Plants for a Future, one source
- Height
- 4.0 mRead from Plants for a Future, one source
- Spread
- 51 cmRead from Plants for a Future, one source
- Water
- Little: takes droughtRead from Wikipedia, one source
- Coldest it survives
- -12.2 °C (USDA zone 8a)Read from Plants for a Future, one source
Not known yet: flowers, heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- Finnish
- elefanttisulkahirssi
- Lithuanian
- Dramblinė soruolė
- Indonesian
- Rumput Gajah
- Japanese
- ナピアグラス, エレファントグラス
- Spanish
- Pasto Taiwan
- Chinese
- 象草, 紫狼尾草
- root
- camote
- Afrikaans
- Olifantsgras, m'fufugras
- Hebrew
- זיף-נוצה ארגמני
- Chinese (China)
- 象草
- Portuguese
- Capim-elefante
- Thai
- หญ้าเนเปีย
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-26, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- Plants for a Future, read 2026-10-26, fact, cited
- Wikipedia, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-25, CC BY 3.0 us
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- 3D model: Cenchrus purpureus (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.