| Home | > | List of families | > | Poaceae | > | Andropogon | > | gayanus |
| Synonyms: |
Andropogon appendiculatus var. polycladus Andropogon gayanus var. polycladus (Hack.) Clayton Andropogon gayanus Kunth var. squamulatus (Hochst.) Stapf Andropogon squamulatus Hochst. |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Caespitose perennial; culms up to 350 cm high, erect, branched above, glaucous. Leaf sheaths occasionally woolly below; ligule a very short (c. 2 mm) minutely fringed membrane, the leaves often with small protuberances or a second ligule present abaxially to the ligule; laminas 20–50(80) cm × 4–22 mm, reduced to the midrib and petiole-like at the base, gradually much expanded above, folded or flat, tapering to a fine point at the apex, this often with minute dense white hairs. Racemes in pairs, 4–10 cm long, clearly exserted from the spatheole, silvery with white hairs; peduncles longer than the racemes; internodes and pedicels clavate, ciliate with hairs c. 4 mm long on both margins, bilobed at the apex, the lobes c. 2 mm long. Sessile spikelet 6.5–8.5 mm long; inferior glume with a shallow median groove, glabrous or with short hairs; superior glume convex on the back; superior lemma bifid in the upper 1/4; awn geniculate, 13–32 mm long; anthers 3–5 mm long, straw-coloured. Pedicelled spikelet male, 5–7.5 mm long; inferior glume mucronate or with an awn up to 3.5 mm long. |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | gayanus: after Claude Gay, 1800-1873, French natural historian. |
| Habitat: | Growing in xerophytic grassland on doloritic, sandy or clayey soils, and in fallow fields and along roadsides |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | |
| Growth form(s): | |
| Endemic status: | |
| Red data list status: | |
| 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 338. Chapano, C. & Mamuto, M. (2003). Plants of the Chimanimani District National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, Zimbabwe Page 5. As Andropogon gayanus polycladus Chapano, C. & Mugarisanwa, N.H. (2003). Plants of the Matobo District National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, Zimbabwe Page 4. As Andropogon gayanus polycladus Cope, T.A. (2002). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(4) Pages 68 - 69. (Includes a picture). Heath, A. & Heath, R. (2009). Field Guide to the Plants of Northern Botswana including the Okavango Delta Kew Publishing Page 458. (Includes a picture). Jackson, G. & Wiehe, P.O. (1958). An Annotated Check List of Nyasaland Grasses The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland Page 28. As Andropogon gayanus squamulatus Klaassen Esmerialda, E.S. & Craven P. (2003). Checklist of grasses in Namibia SABONET Report No. 20 Page 8. as A. gayanus var. polycladus 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 99. Roodt, V. (2015). Grasses & Grazers of Botswana and the surrounding savanna Struik Nature, South Africa Pages 32 - 33. as var. polycladus (Includes a picture). Siebert, S. & Mössmer, M. (Editors) (2002). SABONET Southern Mozambique Expedition 2001; Provisional Plant Checklist of the Maputo Elephant Reserve (MER) and Licuati Forest Reserve (LFR) SABONET News 7(1) Page 27. |
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