Indispensable morphological characteristics for the classification of species of the genus Brachiaria

Abstract

The genus Brachiaria belongs to the family Gramineae, subfamily Panicoideae, tribe Paniceae and is represented by annual and perennial, erect, procumbent, decumbent and stoloniferous species. This paper provides the botanical description of each species and the distinguishing morphological characteristics that identify each one, as well as some comments about their agricultural characteristics. It is pointed out that many ecotypes of the species that make up this genus have the potential to integrate the structure of forage and grassland varieties in the country.