Bothriochloa

Bothriochloa
Bothriochloa pertusa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Panicoideae
Supertribe: Andropogonodae
Tribe: Andropogoneae
Subtribe: Andropogoninae
Genus: Bothriochloa
Kuntze
Type species
Bothriochloa anamitica
(syn of B. bladhii)
Synonyms
  • Amphilophis Nash
  • Dichanthium sect. Bothriochloa (Kuntze) Roberty

Bothriochloa is a common and widespread genus of plants in the grass family native to many countries on all inhabited continents and many islands. They are often called beardgrass, bluegrass or bluestem. Some species are invasive in areas where they have been introduced.

The etymology of the genus name Bothriochloa derives from the two ancient Greek words βοθρίον (bothríon), meaning "small pit or trench", and χλόη or χλόα (khlóa), meaning "new green shoot or blade of grass".

Recently, some specimens of Bothriochloa were collected from Gooty Fort Hill, Andhra Pradesh, India and identified as Bothriochloa ewartiana (Domin) C. E. Hubb. based on literature study and international correspondence with experts from Australia, Indonesia and Americas. It formed an extended and disjunct distribution of a Far Eastern species in Asia from India.