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| Synonyms: |
Andropogon bicolor Nees Andropogon dichroos Steud. Cymbopogon dichroos (Steud.) Pilg. Cymbopogon luembensis De Wild. Hyparrhenia fastigiata Robyns Hyparrhenia gazensis sensu Jackson & Wiehe, non (Rendle) Stapf. Hyparrhenia luembensis (De Wild.) Robyns Hyparrhenia vulpina sensu Jackson & Wiehe, non Stapf. Sorghum bicolor (Nees) Kuntze |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Caespitose perennial; culms up to 300 cm high, stout, erect. Leaf sheaths glabrous; leaf laminas up to 60 cm × 8 mm, rigid. False panicle 20–60 cm long, copiously branched; spatheoles 2–3.5 cm long, narrowly lanceolate, at length reddish; peduncles half as long to almost as long as the spatheoles, glabrous or pilose above with spreading white hairs; racemes 1–1.5(2) cm long, 6–9-awned per pair, glabrescent to fulvously pilose, embraced by the spatheole, terminally exserted, not or very rarely deflexed; raceme-bases unequal, the superior 1.5–2.5 mm long, terete, usually softly hirtellous, sometimes glabrous, the articulation with the peduncle tip glabrous. Homogamous spikelets similar to the pedicelled, a single pair at the base of the inferior raceme or both racemes. Sessile spikelets 4–5 mm long; callus 0.4–0.8 mm long, cuneate, obtuse; inferior glume lanceolate, yellowish-brown or violet-tinged, the hairs usually fulvous but often pallid and scanty, the back usually glossy; awn (1)2–3 cm long, the column rufously pubescent. Pedicelled spikelets 3–5 mm long, narrowly lanceolate, acute or mucronate (or with a bristle not more than 1 mm long) at the apex; callus absent; pedicel-tooth short, broadly triangular. |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | |
| Habitat: | Growing in deciduous bushland and wooded grassland, especially on the moister soils; also in weedy places along roadsides and on old cultivated land |
| Altitude range: | 50 - 1250 m |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | Eastern tropical Africa southwards to South Africa, but more common towards the south, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambiqjue, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
| Malawi distribution: | N,C,S |
| 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 32. Chapano, C. & Mugarisanwa, N.H. (2003). Plants of the Matobo District National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, Zimbabwe Page 21. Cope, T.A. (2002). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(4) Pages 104 - 105. Jackson, G. & Wiehe, P.O. (1958). An Annotated Check List of Nyasaland Grasses The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland Page 43. 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 105. Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 138. |
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