| Home | > | List of families | > | Poaceae | > | Hyparrhenia | > | schimperi |
| Synonyms: |
Andropogon schimperi A. Rich. Cymbopogon schimper (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Rendle Hyparrhenia gazensis sensu Jackson & Wiehe, non (Rendle) Stapf. Hyparrhenia variabilis sensu Stent & Rattray, non Stapf. Hyparrhenia viridescens Robyns |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Robust, coarsely caespitose perennial arising from a short rhizome; culms up to 400 cm high and up to 8 mm in diameter, often supported by stilt roots. Leaf sheaths glabrous or rarely pubescent at the base; leaf laminas up to 60 cm × 20 mm, glabrous or with a few hairs beneath. False panicle 30–60 cm long, large, decompound; spatheoles 2.2–3.2 cm long, lanceolate, glabrous, turning russet-brown; peduncles 10–15 mm long, up to half as long as the spatheole, pilose above; racemes 1.2–1.6 cm long, up to a maximum of 6–8-awned per pair in any given panicle, exserted laterally, at length deflexed; raceme-bases subequal, the superior 0.5–1.5 mm long, flattened to subterete, stiffly barbate, with a scarious lobe up to 0.6 mm long at the apex. Homogamous spikelets 5–8 mm long, a single pair at the base of the inferior raceme only, glabrous to sparsely pilose on the back, ciliate on the margins. Sessile spikelets 4–5 mm long; callus 0.5–0.8 mm long, cuneate, narrowly obtuse to acute at the apex; inferior glume oblong-lanceolate, glabrescent to sparsely pubescent; awn 2–3.3 cm long, the column pubescent with white or tawny hairs. Pedicelled spikelets 5–7 mm long, glabrous to shortly and sparsely pilose, with an awn-point up to 6 mm long, occasionally muticous; callus scarcely developed; pedicel-tooth obscure. |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | schimperi: named after Wilhelm Schimper, explorer and collector, particularly in Ethiopia. |
| Habitat: | Growing in open, wooded and riverine grasslands, deciduous bushland, dambos and old areas of cultivation |
| Altitude range: | 500 - 2300 m |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | Madagascar, on the eastern side of Africa from Ethiopia southwards to South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, 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: |
Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 350. Cope, T.A. (2002). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(4) Page 121. 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. |
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