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Taxon:  Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty



Summary
Genus:
Chrysopogon
Family:
Poaceae (alt. Gramineae)
Subfamily:
Panicoideae
Tribe:
Andropogoneae
Nomen number:
424704
Place of publication:
Bull. Inst. Franç. Afrique Noire, A 22:106. 1960
Verified:
03/18/2003 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
1 (1  active, 1  available) in Australian Pastures Genebank.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Basionym
Phalaris zizanioides L.

Homotypic Synonym(s)
Anatherum zizanioides (L.) Hitchc. & Chase
Andropogon zizanioides (L.) Urb.
Vetiveria zizanioides (L.) Nash

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Andropogon muricatus Retz.
Andropogon odoratus Steud., nom. inval.
Andropogon squarrosus auct.
No images


Reference(s)
  1. Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & M. T. Strong. Flora of the West Indies (on-line resource).
  2. Burkill, H. M. The useful plants of west tropical Africa. 1985-2004
  3. Duke, J. A. et al. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs. 2002
  4. Englert, J. M. et al. USDA-NRCS Improved conservation plant materials released by NRCS and cooperators. 1999-
  5. Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
  6. FNA Editorial Committee. Flora of North America. 1993-
  7. Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
  8. George, A. S., ed. Flora of Australia. 1980-
  9. Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm.
  10. Hammel, B. E. et al., eds. Manual de plantas de Costa Rica. 2003-
  11. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares. 2008
  12. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
  13. Panel on Vetiver, Board on Science and Technology for International Development, National Research Council. Vetiver grass: a thin green line against erosion. 1993 11.
  14. Randall, R. P. The introduced flora of Australia and its weed status. 2007
  15. Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994
  16. Veldkamp, J. F. 1999. A revision of Chrysopogon Trin., including Vetiveria Bory (Poaceae) in Thailand and Malesia with notes on some other species from Africa and Australia. Austrobaileya 5:522-523.
  17. Villaseñor, J. L. & F. J. Espinoza-Garcia. 2004. The alien flowering plants of Mexico. Diversity & Distrib. 10:113-123.
  18. Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. World economic plants: a standard reference (on-line edition) [medicinal plants only].
  19. Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. Flora of China (English edition). 1994-
Common names
English
cuscus grass –
khus-khus –
khus-khus grass –
vetiver –
vetiver grass –
French
chiendent odorant –
vétiver –
German
Vetivergras –
India
khas-khas –
Portuguese (Brazil)
capim-de-cheiro –
capim-sândalo –
patchuli-falso –
Spanish
zacate violeta –
Swedish
vetivergräs –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaAssam 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaBihar 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaMadhya Pradesh 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaMeghalaya 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaOrissa 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaTamil Nadu 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaUttar Pradesh 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndiaWest Bengal 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentPakistanPunjab 
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentSri Lanka  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaIndochina  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaMyanmar  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaThailand  
2CultivatedAfricaNorthern AfricaAlgeria  
2CultivatedAsia-TemperateChinaChina  
2CultivatedNorthern America United States  
2CultivatedSouthern AmericaMesoamericaCosta Rica  
4NaturalizedAustralasiaAustraliaAustralia  
4NaturalizedSouthern AmericaMesoamericaCosta Rica  
Native
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India [Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal], Sri Lanka, Pakistan [Punjab]
  • INDO-CHINA: Indochina, Myanmar, Thailand
Cultivated
Africa
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria
Asia-Temperate
  • CHINA: China
Northern America
  • REGION: United States
Southern America
  • MESOAMERICA: Costa Rica
Naturalized
Australasia
  • AUSTRALIA: Australia
Southern America
  • MESOAMERICA: Costa Rica
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Environmentalboundary/barrier/support Panel on Vetiver, Board on Science and Technology for International Development, National Research Council. Vetiver grass: a thin green line against erosion. 1993 11.
Environmentalerosion control Panel on Vetiver, Board on Science and Technology for International Development, National Research Council. Vetiver grass: a thin green line against erosion. 1993 11.
Materialsessential oils Panel on Vetiver, Board on Science and Technology for International Development, National Research Council. Vetiver grass: a thin green line against erosion. 1993 11.
Medicinesfolklore McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://apg.pir.sa.gov.au/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=424704. Accessed 19 July 2025.


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