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| Synonyms: |
Agrostis africana Poir. Agrostis capensis Willd. Agrostis spicata Thunb. Sporobolus capensis (P. Beauv.) Kunth Sporobolus indicus sensu Stapf, non (L.) R.Br. Sporobolus indicus var. africanus (Poir.) Jovet & Guédès Vilfa capensis P. Beauv. |
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| Description: |
Caespitose perennial without rhizomes or stolons; culms up to 130 cm tall, erect, unbranched; basal leaf sheaths broad, chartaceous, glabrous, laterally compressed, persistent; leaf laminas up to 40 cm × 1–4 mm, flat or involute, glabrous or scaberulous on the surfaces, thinly scabrid on the margins, tapering to a long filiform apex.Panicle (10)20–45 cm long, linear to spiciform; primary branches not in whorls, appressed to the main axis 1–2 cm long, thinly scabrid, eglandular, subsecund, the spikelets densely arranged along their whole length.Spikelets 1.7–2.6 mm long, greyish-green to dark green; inferior glume 1/5–2/5 the length of the spikelet, broadly oblong, hyaline, nerveless, glabrous, obtuse at the apex; superior glume 2/5–3/5 the length of the spikelet, narrowly ovate, hyaline, 1-nerved, glabrous, acute at the apex; lemma as long as the spikelet, ovate-elliptic, acute; anthers 3, 0.6–1.2 mm long.Grain (0.8)1–1.2 mm long, elliptic to obovate, truncate at the top, tetragonal in section. |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | africanus: African |
| Habitat: | Floodplain and swampy grasslands; also in montane grassland and margins of evergreen forest |
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| Worldwide distribution: | Arabia, Ascension Island, Botswana, Cameroon, Easter Island, Hawaii, Namibia, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, and southwards to South Africa |
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| 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 186 - 187. Jackson, G. & Wiehe, P.O. (1958). An Annotated Check List of Nyasaland Grasses The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland Page 60. As Sporobolus capensis 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. Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 145. |
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