| Synonyms: |
Diplachne fleckii Pilg. Pogonarthria tuberculata Pilg. |
| Common names: | Lepheto (Setswana) Seloka (Setswana) Small herringbone grass (English) |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | |
| Description: |
Loosely caespitose annual; culms up to 40(70) cm tall, erect or geniculately ascending, often branched from the lower nodes; leaf laminas (1.5)2–12(15) cm × 1–4 mm, flat or involute, tapering to a fine point.Inflorescence (3.5)10–20(25) cm long; racemes 0.8–2 cm long, usually spreading, sometimes ascending, rarely reclining.Spikelets up to 8 mm long, 3–6-flowered (rarely more), oblong to elliptic; rhachilla internodes terete, hairy towards the apex, rarely only scabrid; glumes lanceolate, the inferior (1.2)1.6–2.3(2.6) mm long, the superior (2.4)2.6–3.6 mm long; lemmas 3.2–5.6 mm long, elliptic-oblong to ovate-oblong, drawn out at the apex into a slightly recurved awn. |
| Type location: |
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| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | |
| Habitat: | In hot dry country usually on Kalahari Sands, and in calcareous pans and on rocky outcrops. In short grassland and in miombo and mopane woodlands |
| Altitude range: (metres) | 900 - 1200 m |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
| FZ divisions: | N,SW |
| 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) Page 152. Heath, A. & Heath, R. (2009). Field Guide to the Plants of Northern Botswana including the Okavango Delta Kew Publishing Page 442. (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 108. Ntore, S. & al. (2024). Checklist of the vascular plants of Burundi Page 205. Roodt, V. (2015). Grasses & Grazers of Botswana and the surrounding savanna Struik Nature, South Africa Pages 168 - 169. (Includes a picture). Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 143. Timberlake, J.R. & Childes, S.L. (2004). Biodiversity of the Four Corners Area: Technical Reviews Volume Two (Chapter 5-15) Appendix 5-1: Plant Checklist Occasional Publications in Biodiversity 15 Page 191. |