| Synonyms: |
Eragrostis arenicola sensu B.K. Simon, non C.E.Hubb. Eragrostis ciliaris var. brachystachya Boiss. Eragrostis ciliaris var. latifolia Hack. Poa ciliaris L. |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Loosely caespitose annual; culms up to 60(75) cm tall, erect or ascending, usually unbranched, glabrous at the nodes, eglandular; leaf sheaths eglandular; ligule a line of hairs; leaf laminas 5–20 cm × 1–3(5) mm, linear, flat or involute, glabrous or with scattered long silky hairs, scaberulous, somewhat firm.Panicle 4–20 cm long, woolly, narrow and spike-like but often lobed and interrupted, the spikelets densely clustered on pedicels 2–4 mm long, the primary branches not in whorls, terminating in a fertile spikelet, glabrous in the axils, eglandular.Spikelets 2–4.5 × c. 2 mm, ovate, strongly laterally compressed, 6–12-flowered, the florets disarticulating from the apex downwards, the rhachilla fragile; glumes subequal, 0.7–1.4 mm long, reaching to beyond the middle of the adjacent lemmas, lightly keeled, narrowly lanceolate or narrowly oblong-lanceolate in profile, scabrid on the keel, acute at the apex; lemmas 0.9–1.5 mm long, keeled, oblong-elliptic in profile, membranous with distinct lateral nerves, widely diverging from the rhachilla (greater than 45°), those in opposite rows not imbricate, the rhachilla visible between them, purplish, with a few short stiff hairs on the keel below (most apparent in the uppermost lemmas), otherwise smooth, broadly obtuse and ± obscurely mucronate at the apex; palea glabrous on the flanks, the keels slender, wingless, tuberculate-ciliate with hairs 0.6–0.7 mm long; anthers 2, 0.2–0.4 mm long.Caryopsis 0.3–0.5 mm long, elliptic. |
| Type location: |
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| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | |
| Habitat: | Grassland on river banks and swamp margins, and on coastal and lake-shore dunes, in sandy soils; also a common weed of disturbed ground, old cultivation and roadsides |
| Altitude range: (metres) | Up to 1200 m |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | Tropical and southern Africa, through Arabia and the Mascarene Islands to India, and in tropical America |
| FZ divisions: | N |
| Growth form(s): | |
| Endemic status: | |
| Red data list status: | |
| Insects associated with this species: | |
| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Literature: |
Cope, T.A. (1999). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(2) Pages 69 - 70. Jackson, G. & Wiehe, P.O. (1958). An Annotated Check List of Nyasaland Grasses The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland Page 39. 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 103. Ntore, S. & al. (2024). Checklist of the vascular plants of Burundi Page 196. Poilecot, P. (2007). Eragrostis species of Zimbabwe Éditions Quae,Versailles, France Pages 66 - 67. (Includes a picture). Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 136. Troupin, G. & Maquet, P. (1988). Poaceae Flore du Rwanda Spermatophytes Volume IV Page 254. (Includes a picture). |