English: Brachiaria is a genus of grasses originating from savannas of eastern Africa. These grasses are widely used as livestock forage. This genus includes 97 species, which can be found in tropical and subtropical climates, mostly in Africa and the Americas. These grasses are monocots in the family Poaceae.Some species of Brachiaria were probably first introduced unintentionally to the Americas in the colonial period, from slave ships. More recently B. decumbens was introduced in 1952 into Brazil and B. ruziziensis in the 1960’s also in Brazil. Brachiaria is the most widely used tropical grass in Central and South America, about 40 million ha in Brazil alone.