Melinis minutiflora – Molasses Grass

Melinis minutiflora - Molasses Grass, Molassesgrass, Brazilian Stink Grass, Efwatakala Grass (leaves)

Melinis minutiflora - Molasses Grass, Molassesgrass, Brazilian Stink Grass, Efwatakala Grass (flowers)

Melinis minutiflora - Molasses Grass, Molassesgrass, Brazilian Stink Grass, Efwatakala Grass

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Melinis minutiflora

Synonym: Melinis tenuinervis

Common Names: Molasses Grass, Molassesgrass, Brazilian Stink Grass, Efwatakala Grass

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Graminoid

Hawaii Native Status: Introduced. This naturalized forage plant is native to Africa.

Flower Color: Inconspicuous (orange)

Height: To 39 inches (1 m) tall

Description: The tiny flowers are in slender, dense, feathery, purplish to pink (when young), 8 inch (20 cm) long panicles. The leaf blades and sheaths are glandular hairy, sticky, and have a distinctive molasses-like odor. The leaf blades are linear and light green or tinged red. The stems are branching and ascending. The plants are spread by wind-blown seed and rooting runners and eventually form large, monotypic stands when established. This strong smelling plant repels both insects and ticks.

Here in Hawaii, this weedy, mat-forming, smothering grass is common in low and middle elevation, dry to mesic (moderately wet) disturbed areas.

Special Characteristics

Foul-smelling – Molasses Grass has a strong, nauseatingly sweet smell of molasses or maple-scented roach traps.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Liliopsida – Monocotyledons
Subclass: Commelinidae
Order: Cyperales
Family: Poaceae – Grass family
Genus: Melinis P. Beauv. – stinkgrass
Species: Melinis minutiflora P. Beauv. – molassesgrass

More About This Plant

Hawaii County Distribution Map