Eragrostis minor, the little lovegrass or smaller stinkgrass, is a widespread species of flowering plant in the family Poaceae, native to most of the subtropical and warm temperate Old World, and introduced to North America, South America, and Australia.[1][2] Preferring disturbed open places with little competition, and sandy or gravelly soils, it is often found growing on rail embankments, road verges, cracks in sidewalks, and waste areas.[3] Its seeds are edible, but quite small and difficult to harvest and handle, so it is usually regarded as a famine food.[4]

  • Mass effect
    Mass effect
  • Flowers
    Flowers
  • Seedheads with human finger for scale
    Seedheads with human finger for scale
  • Ripe seedheads
    Ripe seedheads
  • Eragrostis minor is often found growing in pavement cracks
    Eragrostis minor is often found growing in pavement cracks
  • A particularly large individual
    A particularly large individual
  • Uprooted specimen with coin for scale
    Uprooted specimen with coin for scale

Diseases

E. minor is the only known host as of 2023 of the Eragrostis minor streak virus.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "Eragrostis minor Host". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Eragrostis minor (Little Lovegrass)". MinnesotaWildflowers.info. Minnesota Wildflowers. 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023. Also known as: Smaller Stinkgrass
  3. ^ Hilty, John (20 November 2019). "Lesser Love Grass". illinoiswildflowers.info. Illinois Wildflowers. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  4. ^ Fern, Ken (20 July 2021). "Useful Tropical Plants Eragrostis minor". tropical.theferns.info. Tropical Plants Database. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  5. ^
    Martin, Darren P.; Linderme, Daphne; Lefeuvre, Pierre; Shepherd, Dionne N.; Varsani, Arvind (2011). "Eragrostis minor streak virus: an Asian streak virus in Africa". Annotated Sequence Record. 156: 1299–1303. doi:10.1007/s00705-011-1026-8. PMID 21614438. S2CID 3151261. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
    Cited by Karavina et al., 2014.