Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: Middle East and Africa
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Runners
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

A tough, sun-loving turf grass that spreads aggressively by both runners and rhizomes, knitting itself into dense mats that survive drought, trampling, and close mowing. Its seed heads fan out as a few slender spikes from a single point, like a tiny green starburst.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Cynodon
Species: Cynodon dactylon