- Botanical Name
- Cynodon dactylon
Durva Grass
Details
Durva grass, widely called Bermuda grass, is a warm-season grass of warm and tropical climates worldwide, native to Europe, Africa, Australia and much of Asia. It creeps along the ground by stolons and rhizomes, forming a dense mat, with grey-green blades 2 to 15 centimetres long and a deep root system. It can be an aggressive invasive weed. In Hinduism it is important in the worship of Ganesha, and the festival Durga Ashtami is dedicated to it. Known as arugampull in Tamil, garikehullu in Kannada and karuka in Malayalam, it is one of the Dashapushpam, the ten sacred flowers of Kerala. In Nepal, where it is called dubo, a garland of it is worn by the bride and groom at a Hindu wedding.
Caution
The hybrid cultivar Tifton 85 produces cyanide under certain conditions and has been implicated in several livestock deaths.
Correspondences
- Elements
- No elements recorded.
- Celestial Bodies
- No celestial bodies recorded.
- Zodiac Signs
- No zodiac signs recorded.
- Colours
- No colours recorded.
- Deities
- Ganesha (Hindu; also called Ganapati, Ganesh, Ganish)
Folk Names
- Arugampull
- Bermuda Grass
- Couch Grass
- Devil Grass
- Dubo
- Garikehullu
- Karuka
Categories
- Banishing
- Prosperity
- Warding
Substitutes
No substitutes recorded.
Forms
Herb
References
References
Notes
- Devi and Suresh, "Magico-religious plants of Sarkaghat," annotated table, eth-mr-26.
- Gairola, Sharma, and Jyotsana, "Plants used for Socio-Magico-Religious," Discussion, Cynodon dactylon paragraph (Hajong of Assam, after Sharma et al. 2012).
- Wikipedia, under "Cynodon dactylon," lead; religion; toxicity.
- Wikipedia, under "Cynodon dactylon."
Bibliography
- Devi, Arti; Kumar, Suresh. "Magico-religious plants of Sarkaghat tehsil in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh (India): An ethnobotanical perspective from the north-western Himalaya." Ethnobotany Research and Applications 35 (2026-08-23). Accessed October 29, 2026. https://ethnobotanyjournal.org/index.php/era/article/view/8549. Open the Source (opens in a new tab)
1 - Gairola, Sumeet; Singh, Kanwaljeet; Sharma, Jyotsana. "Plants used for Socio-Magico-Religious purposes by the indigenous communities of Sub-Himalayan Tract, Uttarakhand." Ethnobotany Research and Applications 23 (2022-06-12). Accessed October 29, 2026. https://ethnobotanyjournal.org/index.php/era/article/view/3645. Open the Source (opens in a new tab)
2 - Wikipedia, under "Cynodon dactylon." Accessed October 29, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cynodon_dactylon&oldid=1375092034. Open the Source (opens in a new tab)
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