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| Synonyms: |
Eragrostis lappula sensu Jackson & Wiehe, sensu Vesey-FitzGerald,non Nees. Eragrostis uniglumis Hack. |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Densely caespitose perennial without stolons but sometimes with short stout rhizomes; culms up to 80(120) cm tall, usually erect, unbranched, glabrous at the nodes, eglandular; basal leaf sheaths glabrous or puberulous, chartaceous, terete, eglandular, persistent; ligule a line of hairs; leaf laminas 10–15(25) cm × 2–4(6) mm, linear, flat or involute, glabrous or sparsely pilose, eglandular.Panicle 8–25 cm long, ovate to elliptic, dense or fairly loose, the spikelets evenly distributed on pedicels (1.5)2.5–6 mm long, the primary branches not in whorls, terminating in a fertile spikelet, glabrous or long-pilose in the axils, eglandular.Spikelets 4–17 × 2–2.5 mm, lanceolate to narrowly oblong, laterally compressed, 8–20-flowered, the florets disarticulating from below upwards, the rhachilla persistent; glumes unequal, reaching to 2/3 or 3/4 the way along the adjacent lemmas, keeled, lanceolate in profile, glabrous, acute at the apex, the inferior 1.5–2 mm long, the superior 1.7–2.5 mm long; lemmas 2–2.5(2.7) mm long, keeled, lanceolate in profile, membranous with distinct lateral nerves, diverging from the rhachilla at less than 45°, those in opposite rows not imbricate, the rhachilla visible between them, green, brownish or purplish, glabrous or the keel scaberulous, acute at the apex; palea deciduous with or soon after the lemma, glabrous on the flanks, the keels slender, wingless, scabrid above, ciliate below with stiff tubercle-based hairs, these sometimes very sparse and not always protruding from the sides of the lemma; anthers 3, 0.8–1.2 mm long.Caryopsis 1–1.5 mm long, linear. |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | |
| Habitat: | Dambo grassland in peaty soil, heavy alluvium and Kalahari Sand, and in sandveld and coastal plain grasslands; also on lake-shore sandy beaches and damp sandy soil on river banks |
| Altitude range: | 20 - 1370 m |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | Tanzania and southwards to Angola and South Africa , Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
| Malawi distribution: | N,C |
| Growth form(s): | |
| Endemic status: | |
| Red data list status: | |
| Insects associated with this species: | |
| 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 24. Chapano, C. & Mugarisanwa, N.H. (2003). Plants of the Matobo District National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, Zimbabwe Page 15. Cope, T.A. (1999). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(2) Page 75. (Includes a picture). 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 104. Poilecot, P. (2007). Eragrostis species of Zimbabwe Éditions Quae,Versailles, France Pages 60 - 61. (Includes a picture). Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 137. |
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