Identity
Indian goosegras, Indischer Korakan. Synonym: Eleusine indica subsp. indica. Eleusine indica is part of a group of three closely related taxa, the other two being E. africana and E. coracana. E. africana is more commonly treated as subspecies of either E. indica or, nowadays, E. coracana (Phillips 1972, Wallnöfer 2014). In The Synecologist’s framework all three taxa are referred to as species for the time being.
In Austria, Eleusine indica seems to be the by far most common species of the genus. E. africana has most probably been found by Forstner and Melzer in Lower Austria in the year 1969 (Wallnöfer 2014), and a recent finding of mine (unpublished), also in Lower Austria, may belong to that species, too. This raises the questions if other findings in Austria also may have belonged to that species. Apart from the mentioned finding, however, I only saw Eleusine indica.
Ecology and Sociology
Within Central Europe and most probably most of the rest of Europe Eleusine indica is a character species of the Eleusinetum indicae (Eragrostion, Chenopodietea albae). It shows a high fidelity towards this unit. As such it is warmth-requiring, drought-tolerant and very resistent towards trampling. It may grow in fields or flowerbeds, too, but at least in settlements it is particulary strong confined to trampled or driven on places, stronger than all of the other species of the Eleusinetum.
Eleusine indica also differs from most other species of the Eleusinetum in being more warmth-demanding. It stands a little bit of frost, though. In these regards it resembles Euphorbia prostrata.
Selected References
Phillips, S. M. (1972): A survey of the genus Eleusine Gaertn. (Gramineae) in Africa – Kew Bull. 27 (2): 251–270.
Wallnöfer, Bruno (2014): Über die Verbreitung von Eleusine indica und E. tristachya (Gramineae) in Österreich – Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien 116: 118–190.
Authorship, Entry History
Authorship: © Rolf Diran 2021. Last edited on 25 August 2021. 2 October 2022.