Guinea Grass
Panicum maximum
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu
- Flowering
- July-October
How to identify Guinea Grass
Identify Guinea Grass by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Confirm fruit surface: Smooth, not spiny.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: July-October.
- In India, compare location records such as Tamil Nadu.
- Confirm it sits within the Poaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Guinea Grass.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Panicum maximum
- Genus
- Panicum
- Family
- Poaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Cultivated as fodder grass
- Habitat type
- Cultivated
- Distribution
- Tropical Africa, India, Pakistan; introduced to most other warm countries
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu
- Flowering & fruiting
- July-October
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Typical of the Poaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Fruit surface
- Smooth, not spinyrecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Spike
- Fruit
- Grain
Characters marked “recorded” are for Guinea Grass itself; the rest are typical of the Poaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Tamil
- கினியா புல்
- Kannada
- ಗಿನಿ ಹುಲ್ಲು
- Malayalam
- ഗിനിപ്പുല്ല്
About Guinea Grass
Guinea Grass (Panicum maximum) belongs to the Poaceae family, where it grows as a herb. In India it has been recorded in Tamil Nadu. It is cultivated as fodder grass. Flowering and fruiting run from July to October.
Poaceae
Grass family
Guinea Grass belongs to the Poaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Poaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
All plant problem & care guides