Sporobolus virginicus (L.) Kunth

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Photo: Sune Holt
Inhambane, Inhambane Distr., Mozambique

Photo: Sune Holt
Vilankulo, Inhambane, Mozambique

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Synonyms:	Agrostis virginica L. Sporobolus pungens auct. non (Schreb.) Kunth. Sporobolus virginicus var. major Franch.
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Description:	Mat-forming perennial with extensive branching rhizomes and conspicuously distichous leaves; culms up to 40 cm tall, erect, fastigiately branching; leaf sheaths firmly chartaceous, glabrous, terete, persistent; leaf laminas 2–10 cm × 1–4 mm, stiff, involute, scaberulous above, smooth and glabrous on the margins, pungent at the apex and sometimes spiny.Panicle 2–10 cm long, linear and spiciform, untidily cylindrical, mostly exserted from the uppermost leaf sheath; primary branches not in whorls, smooth and glabrous, eglandular, appressed to the axis, the spikelets densely packed along their whole length.Spikelets 1.7–2.5 mm long, pallid or pale green; inferior glume 2/3–3/4 the length of the spikelet (but variable even in the same panicle), lanceolate, 1-nerved, scaberulous on the nerve, acute at the apex; superior glume as long as the spikelet, narrowly ovate-elliptic, 1-nerved, glabrous, acute at the apex; lemma as long as the spikelet, ovate-elliptic; anthers 3, 1–1.4 mm long.Grain c. 0.7 mm long, subrotund.
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Habitat:	Saline flats & salt-marshes, on sand dunes bordering mangroves, in floodplain and swampy grasslands in coastal localities; inland areas in shallow sodic or mopane woodland pans where there is impeded drainage caused by a shallow sodic layer
Altitude range: (metres)	Up to 200 m
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Worldwide distribution:	Tropics and subtropics throughout the world
Zimbabwe distribution:	W,S
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Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Literature:	Cope, T.A. (1999). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(2) Page 181. 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 110. Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 146. Siebert, S. & Mössmer, M. (Editors) (2002). SABONET Southern Mozambique Expedition 2001; Provisional Plant Checklist of the Maputo Elephant Reserve (MER) and Licuati Forest Reserve (LFR) SABONET News 7(1) Page 28.

Other sources of information about Sporobolus virginicus:

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Flora of Botswana: Sporobolus virginicus
Flora of Mozambique: Sporobolus virginicus

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Sporobolus virginicus
African Plant Database: Sporobolus virginicus
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Sporobolus virginicus
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Sporobolus virginicus
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Sporobolus virginicus
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Sporobolus virginicus
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Sporobolus virginicus
JSTOR Plant Science: Sporobolus virginicus
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Sporobolus virginicus
Plants of the World Online: Sporobolus virginicus
Tropicos: Sporobolus virginicus
Wikipedia: Sporobolus virginicus