| Synonyms: |
Sporobolus filifolius Stent Sporobolus laxivaginatus Stent Sporobolus schlechteri Schweick. Sporobolus tysonii Stent Vilfa centrifuga Trin. |
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| Description: |
Densely caespitose perennial with short oblique rhizome; culms up to 80 cm tall, erect, unbranched; basal leaf sheaths expanded, indurated, horny and either yellow or chestnut-brown or rarely broad and chartaceous, glabrous or pilose, terete, persistent; leaf laminas 6–30 cm × 1–2.5 mm (but those higher up on the culm sometimes broader and up to 5 mm wide), stiff, tightly involute or rarely flat, glabrous or pilose on the surface, smooth or scabrid on the margins or rarely pectinate with tubercle-based setae, acute at the apex.Panicle (4)8–13(18) cm long, narrowly ovate to pyramidal, sometimes ± contracted; branches in a succession of whorls, these progressively shorter upwards, glabrous, with inconspicuous long linear glands, the spikelets in dense clusters at the tips of the primary branches.Spikelets (2.2)2.7–4.7(5.2) mm long, very dark green; inferior glume 3/4 as long to almost as long as the spikelet, narrowly lanceolate, 0–1-nerved, glabrous, acuminate at the apex; superior glume as long as the spikelet, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 1-nerved, glabrous, acuminate at the apex; lemma almost as long as the spikelet, lanceolate to narrowly ovate; anthers 3, (1)1.9–2.2 mm long.Grain 1.7–2.2 mm long, elliptic. |
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| Habitat: | Montane short grassland, sometimes with scattered trees, and in watershed grassland, on sandy soils or shallow peaty soils in rocky areas and along roadsides, often following fire |
| Altitude range: (metres) | 1210 - 2300 m |
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| Worldwide distribution: | Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
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| Endemic status: | |
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| Insects associated with this species: | |
| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Literature: |
Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 362. Cope, T.A. (1999). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(2) Pages 178 - 179. Jackson, G. & Wiehe, P.O. (1958). An Annotated Check List of Nyasaland Grasses The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland Page 61. Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 110. Wursten, B., Timberlake, J. & Darbyshire, I. (2017). The Chimanimani Mountains: an updated checklist. Kirkia 19(1) Page 86. |