Cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica) is a species of plant in the Poaceae, an annual grass, sharp leaves, long and scaly shoots, creeping underground, white or purplish flowers, very adaptive and grows in all climates.
I. cylindrica has sharply pointed shoot tips that emerge from the ground, up to 3 meters high, short stems, rising above the ground surface. Leaves are long ribbon-shaped, pointed tip, narrow base, up to 100 cm long, very rough and sharply serrated edges, long hairs at the base and wide veins.
Inflorescences in panicles, up to 28 cm long, spikes long-haired and white to 1 cm. The seeds spread quickly with the wind or via rhizomes that quickly penetrate the soil.
This species grows in tropical to subtropical areas, elevation up to 2000 meters, temperature 20-40C, rainfall 500-3500 mm/year, pH 4-7.5, lots of sunlight to a bit of shade. This plant dominates open land, former forests, dry rice fields, roadsides and so on.
This plant contains mannitol, glucose, sacharose, citric acid, malic acid, cylindrin, fernenol, coixol, arundoin, amemonin, semiarenol, kersic acid. Often used to treat kidney stones, kidney infections, hepatitis, urinary stones, irregular urination and vaginal discharge. The leaves are dried as roofing material for houses. Fine fibers from flower panicles to fill pillows.
TAXON
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Panicoideae
Tribe: Andropogoneae
Genus: Imperata Cirillo in Pl. Rar. Neapol. 2: XXVI (1792)
Species: Imperata cylindrica (L.) Raeusch. in Nomencl. Bot. Pl. Illustr., ed. 3: 10 (1797)
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS
Calamagrostis lagurus Koeler in Descr. Gramin.: 112 (1802)
Lagurus cylindricus L. in Syst. Nat., ed. 10. 2: 878 (1759)
Saccharum cylindricum (L.) Lam. in Encycl. 1: 594 (1785)
Saccharum europaeum Pers. in Syn. Pl. 1: 103 (1805)
HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS
Arundo epigeios Forssk. ex Steud. in Nomencl. Bot., ed. 2. 1: 144 (1840)
Imperata allang Jungh. in Tijdschr. Natuurl. Gesch. Physiol. 7: 295 (1840)
Imperata angolensis Fritsch in Bull. Herb. Boissier, sér. 2, 1: 1096 (1901)
Imperata arundinacea Cirillo in Pl. Rar. Neapol. 2: XXVI (1792)
Imperata arundinacea var. africana Andersson in Öfvers. Kongl. Vetensk.-Akad. Förh. 12: 159 (1855)
Imperata arundinacea var. europaea Andersson (1855)
Imperata arundinacea var. glabrescens Buse in F.A.W.Miquel, Pl. Jungh.: 366 (1854)
Imperata arundinacea var. indica Andersson (1855)
Imperata arundinacea var. koenigii (Retz.) Benth. in Fl. Hongk.: 419 (1861)
Imperata arundinacea var. latifolia Hook.f. in Fl. Brit. India 7: 106 (1896)
Imperata arundinacea var. pedicellata (Steud.) Debeaux in Rech. Fl. Pyr. Or. 1: ? (1878)
Imperata arundinacea var. thunbergii (Retz.) Stapf in W.H.Harvey & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Cap. 7: 320 (1898)
Imperata cylindrica var. africana (Andersson) C.E.Hubb. in Joint Publ. Imp. Agric. Bur. 7: 10 (1944)
Imperata cylindrica var. europaea (Andersson) Asch. & Graebn. in Syn. Mitteleur. Fl. 2(1): 37 (1898)
Imperata cylindrica subvar. koenigii (Retz.) T.Durand & Schinz in Consp. Fl. Afric. 5: 694 (1894)
Imperata cylindrica var. koenigii (Retz.) Benth. ex Pilg. in J.R.Perkins & al., Fragm. Fl. Philipp.: 137 (1904)
Imperata cylindrica subsp. koenigii (Retz.) Masam. & Yanagita in Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Formosa 31: 326 (1941)
Imperata cylindrica var. latifolia (Hook.f.) C.E.Hubb. (1944)
Imperata cylindrica var. major (Nees) C.E.Hubb. in Grasses Mauritius: 96 (1940)
Imperata cylindrica f. pallida Honda in J. Fac. Sci. Univ. Tokyo, Sect. 3, Bot. 3: 374 (1930)
Imperata cylindrica var. parviflora Batt. & Trab. in Bull. Soc. Bot. France 53: 32 (1906)
Imperata cylindrica var. pedicellata (Steud.) Debeaux in Actes Soc. Linn. Bordeaux 32: 52 (1878)
Imperata cylindrica var. thunbergii (Retz.) T.Durand & Schinz (1894)
Imperata dinteri Pilg. in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 48: 342 (1912)
Imperata filifolia Nees ex Steud. in Syn. Pl. Glumac. 1: 405 (1854)
Imperata koenigii (Retz.) P.Beauv. in Ess. Agrostogr.: 165 (1812)
Imperata koenigii var. major Nees in Fl. Afr. Austral. Ill.: 90 (1841)
Imperata laguroides (Pourr.) J.Roux in Nat. Monspel., Sér. Bot. 9: 177 (1958)
Imperata latifolia (Hook.f.) L.Liu in Vasc. Pl. Hengduan Mount. 2: 2299 (1994)
Imperata pedicellata Steud. in Flora 29: 22 (1846)
Imperata praecoquis Honda in Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 53: 385 (1939)
Imperata ramosa Andersson (1855)
Imperata robustior A.Chev. in Rev. Int. Bot. Appl. Agric. Trop. 29: 114 (1949)
Imperata sieberi Opiz in Naturalientausch 10: 190 (1825)
Imperata sisca P.Beauv. ex Steud. (1841)
Imperata thunbergii (Retz.) Nees (1841)
Saccharum alopecurus Nees in Hooker's J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 2: 100 (1850)
Saccharum diandrum J.Koenig ex Retz. in Observ. Bot. 5: 16 (1789)
Saccharum indum Pers. (1805)
Saccharum koenigii Retz. (1789)
Saccharum laguroides Pourr. in Hist. & Mém. Acad. Roy. Sci. Toulouse 3: 326 (1788)
Saccharum negrosense Steud. (1854)
Saccharum sisca Cav. in Icon. 3: 47 (1794)
Saccharum spicatum Burm. ex Kunth in Enum. Pl. 1: 477 (1833)
Saccharum spicatum J.Presl in C.B.Presl, Reliq. Haenk. 1: 346 (1830)
Saccharum thunbergii Retz. (1789)
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VERNACULAR NAME
Aceh: Naleueng lakoe
Afrikaans: Donsgras, beddinggras, lalanggras, palinggras, silweraargras, sygras
Ambon: Eri, Weli, Welia, Wed
Arabic: سل - حلف
Australia: Blady grass
Bali: Ambengan, Lalang
Banjar: Alalang, Halalang
Barakau: Kurukuru
Batak: Rih, Ri, Rii
Bengali: ওলু Ooloo
Bikol: Gogon
Bugis: Deya
Bunun: Liah, Liih
Burmese: ကျိုက်မေ Kyet-mei
Cambodia: ស្បូវ sböw
Chinese (Simplified): 白茅 - 大白茅
Chinese (Traditional): 白茅 - 大白茅 - 絲茅
Dayak: Halalang, Tingen, Padang, Tingan, Puang, Buhang, Belalang, Bolalang
Dutch: Japans bloedgras
English: Cogon Grass, Bladey Grass, Cogongrass, blady grass, American Grass, Cottonwool Grass, Beady Grass, Bedding Grass, Cotton Wool Grass, Cotton-wool Grass, Ramsammy Grass, Riverfarm Grass, Silver Spike, Silver-Spike, Susenke, Kunai grass, Kunaigrass, satintail, alang-alang, kura-kura, lalang grass, spear grass, sword grass, thatch grass, Japanese blood grass, Lallang
Filipino: Kogon, Gogon, Bulum
Finnish: Silkkiheinä
Flores: Rii, Kii, Ki
French: Herbe sanglante, Paillotte
Gayo: Jih
Gorontalo: Padengo, Padanga
Halmahera: Nguusu
Hebrew: משיין גליליני
Hindi: उलू - सिरहु - दाभ - खांस Uloo, Sirhu, Dabh, Khans
Ifugao: Bulum
Indonesian: Alang-alang
Italian: Falasco bianco
Japanese: チガヤ - 千萱 - カワラチガヤ
Java: Alang-alang, Kambengan
Kannada: Sannadabbai hullu
Korean: 띠
Lampung: Lioh
Laos: ຮັນຮາສ ຄາ Hnhaz kh'a
Madura: Kebut, Lalang
Malaysia: Lalang, Alang-alang
Manado: Kusu-kusu
Manipuri: Imom
Marathi: Dub
Melayu: Lalang
Minangkabau: Ambengan, Alalang, Halalang, Hilalang, Ilalang
Mizo: Di
Nepali: सिरु Siru
Nias: Oo
Oceania: Blady grass
Okavango Basin: Cottonwool Grass, Kwenyama, Kwenyama
Papua New Guinea: Kunai, Kurukuru
Pidgin: Kunai
Polish: Imperata cylindryczna
Portuguese: Caniço-branco
Russian: Императа цилиндрическая
Sanskrit: Darbha
Sasak: Re
Seram: Erer, Muis, Wen
Singapore: Lallang
Slovak: Imperáta valcovitá
Sotho: Mohlorumo
South Sulawesi: Reya
Sumba: Wusu, wutsu
Sumbawa: Re
Sunda: Eurih
Swedish: Bomullsgräs
Tagalog: Kogon
Tanibar: Rie
Telugu: Balbajamu
Thai: หญ้าคา
Tok Pisin: Kunai
Tswana: Kwenyama
Witbank: Donsgras
Zulu: Umthente
Aryo Bandoro
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