Dactyloctenium aegyptium (L.) Willd.Family: Poaceae
Common name: Crowfoot Grass, beach wiregrass, coast button grass, comb fringe grass, Duck grass, Durban crowfoot, Egyptian fingergrass, Egyptian grass, finger comb grass, four-finger grass
Arabic: عدياب
Chinse:龙爪茅,
French: Dactylocténion d'Égypte
Hindi: मकड़ा Makra
Japanese: タツノツメガヤ
Malayalam: Kakkakalan pullu, Kavarapullu
Manipuri: পুঙফাঈ Pungphai
Sanskrit: Takraa, Takraahvaa, Panchaanguli, Nrityakaundaka.
Spanish: zacate egipcio, pata de gallo
Srilankan: පුටු තණ - putu thana
Svenska: Knapphirs
Thai: หญ้าปากควาย
Vietnamese: co chi, co'chân gà
Description: Annual; culms up to 70(100) cm high, usually geniculately ascending and rooting at the lower nodes, frequently shortly stoloniferous and mat-forming, less often erect. Leaf-blades flat, 3-25 cm long, 2.5-7.5 mm wide, papillose-hispid especially along the margins. Inflorescence composed of (1)3-9 linear to narrowly oblong spikes 1.2-6.5 cm long. Spikelets 3-4-flowered, broadly ovate, 3.5-4.5 mm long; glumes subequal, 1.5-2.2 mm long, the lower lanceolate in profile with a thick scabrid keel, the upper elliptic to narrowly obovate in profile, the smooth keel extended into a stout divergent scabrid awn half to twice as long as the glume; lemmas narrowly ovate to ovate in profile, 2.6-4 mm long, the keel gibbous, concave and scabrid above the middle and often extended into a stout cusp or mucro up to 1 mm long; palea-keels winged or wingless; anthers 0.25-0.8 mm long. Grain about 1 mm long, broadly obovate to obtriangular in profile, transversely rugose.
Annual, tufted, blades shortly ascendent, 20-50 cm high, ramified at base, leafy sheaths smooth, bare. Caryopses of various shapes, mostly ± spherical, lateral compressed, distinct humpy, 0.9-1.1 x 0.7-0.9mm. Surface slight lustrous, pale reddish-brown. 2n = 36 (20, 34, 40). [ATLAS OF SEEDS AND FRUITS OF CENTRAL AND EAST-EUROPEAN FLORA]
Ayurvedic uses: Astringent, bitter tonic, anthelmintic. Used for polyurea; externally for wounds and ulcers. In Indian medicine, the grass is used for imparting medicinial properties of Takra (buttermilk) in intestinal, biliary and urinary diseases. [Indian Medicinal Plants An Illustrated Dictionary]
Whole plant: In a decoction for lumbago. Leaf: Infusion mixed with seeds of Cajanus cajan used to accelerate childbirth. Decoction of leaves with Scoparia dulcis for dysentery. [Medicinal Plants of the Guianas (Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana) ]
34 Published articles of Dactyloctenium aegyptium
