Flora of Israel: Pennisetum purpureum

Pennisetum purpureum, Pennisetum benthamii, Elephant grass, Marker grass, Napier grass,

Hebrew: זיף-נוצה ארגמני, Arabic: الثيوم الأرجواني

Scientific name:   Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.
Synonym name:   Pennisetum benthamii Steud.
Common name:   Elephant grass, Marker grass, Napier grass
Hebrew name:   זיף-נוצה ארגמני
Arabic name:   الثيوم الأرجواني
Family:   Graminea (Poaceae), Grass Family, משפחת הדגניים


Location: Heftziba Farm, Hadera
Life form:   Hemicryptophyte
Leaves:   Alternate, entire, smooth
Flowers:   Purple, green
Flowering Period:   September, October, November
Habitat:   Humid habitats
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands
Chorotype:   Escaped from cultivation
Summer shedding:   Perennating


Location: Heftziba Farm, Hadera

Derivation of the botanical name:

Pennisetum, penna, a feather; seta, a bristle; feathery bristles.

purpureum, purple.
benthamii, named after George Bentham (1800 – 1884), English botanist, taxonomist, author, President of the Royal Society, and a Fellow of the Linnaean Society of London.
The Hebrew word: זיף-נוצה, ziv-notza, ziv =bristle, notza =feather; feathery bristles.

  • The standard author abbreviation Schumach. is used to indicate Heinrich Christian Friedrich Schumacher (1757 – 1830), a Danish surgeon, botanist and professor of anatomy at the University of Copenhagen.
  • The standard author abbreviation Steud. is used to indicate Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel (1783 – 1856), a German physician and an authority on grasses.