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| Description: |
Erect stilt-rooted annual up to 300 cm high, slender; nodes and internodes glabrous; leaf sheaths pilose or glabrous; ligule an entire membrane; leaf laminas 20–90 cm × 4–15 mm, linear-lanceolate, pilose on both surfaces but less so on the inferior, the midrib prominent. Panicle 8–40 cm long, compact; racemes 4–8 cm long, the peduncles pilose; spikelets varying from straw-coloured to chestnut-brown. Spikelets 4–5 mm long, oblong; callus obscure. Glumes similar in size, slightly coriaceous; inferior glume finely 7-nerved, narrowly truncate at the apex, pilose; superior glume pilose, especially at the apex and on the margins, often with a glabrous midline. Inferior floret barren, the lemma hyaline, oblong, ciliolate, 2-nerved. Superior floret with an awn 5–8 times the length of the lemma, geniculate with pilose column and scabrid limb; palea present. |
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| Habitat: | Grassland and savanna |
| Altitude range: (metres) | 350 - 1500 m |
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| Worldwide distribution: | Tropical Africa, through Arabia to India |
| FZ divisions: | N,Z,T,MS |
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| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Literature: |
Chapano, C. & Mamuto, M. (2003). Plants of the Chimanimani District National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, Zimbabwe Page 14. Cope, T.A. (2002). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(4) Pages 32 - 34. (Includes a picture). Jackson, G. & Wiehe, P.O. (1958). An Annotated Check List of Nyasaland Grasses The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland Page 33. 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 101. Ntore, S. & al. (2024). Checklist of the vascular plants of Burundi Page 192. Setshogo, M.P. (2000). Notes on the grass subtribe Sorghinae (Poaceae: Andropogoneae) in the Flora Zambesiaca area Kirkia 17(2) Page 136. |