Dactyloctenium giganteum B.S. Fisher & Schweick.

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Synonyms:
Common names: Giant crowfoot (English) Sterretjiegras (Afrikaans)
Frequency:
Status: Native
Description:
Robust caespitose annual; culms up to 160 cm tall (rarely less than 70 cm), erect or geniculately ascending, sometimes rooting from the lower nodes; leaf laminas 11–45 cm × 5–12 mm, flat, glabrous to papillose-hispid especially along the margins.Racemes (1)3–9, 3.5–11 cm long, linear, usually ascending, rarely spreading.Spikelets 4–6.2 mm long, elliptic, 2–7-flowered; glumes subequal, 1.5–2.2 mm long, the inferior lanceolate to narrowly elliptic in profile with a thick scabrid keel, the superior elliptic in profile, the keel extended into a divergent scabrid awn (1.5)1.75–4 times as long as the body; lemmas 3–4 mm long, lanceolate to narrowly ovate in profile, acuminate, the keel scabrid, ± straight or slightly concave below the middle, extended into an awn-point 0.7–2 mm long; palea keels wingless; anthers 1.3–2.1 mm long.Caryopsis 0.7–1.1 mm long, broadly obovate to obtriangular, transversely rugose.
Notes:
Derivation of specific name: giganteum: huge, gigantic
Habitat: At low altitudes, usually in sandy soils, on Kalahari Sands, in sandy dambos and vleis, and in river-bank sandy alluvium, frequently a weed of irrigated land at low altitudes, and common on disturbed ground at roadsides and in old cultivated fields
Altitude range: (metres) 20 - 1100 m
Flowering time:Nov - May
Worldwide distribution: Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe distribution: N,W,C,E,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 20.

Cope, T.A. (1999). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(2) Pages 163 - 164. (Includes a picture).

Heath, A. & Heath, R. (2009). Field Guide to the Plants of Northern Botswana including the Okavango Delta Kew Publishing Page 450. (Includes a picture).

Jackson, G. & Wiehe, P.O. (1958). An Annotated Check List of Nyasaland Grasses The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland Page 34.

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 102.

Pickering, H. & Roe, E. (2009). Wild Flowers of the Victoria Falls Area Helen Pickering, London Page 95. (Includes a picture).

Roodt, V. (2015). Grasses & Grazers of Botswana and the surrounding savanna Struik Nature, South Africa Pages 78 - 79. (Includes a picture).

Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 134.

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 188.


Other sources of information about Dactyloctenium giganteum:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Dactyloctenium giganteum
Flora of Caprivi: Dactyloctenium giganteum
Flora of Malawi: Dactyloctenium giganteum
Flora of Mozambique: Dactyloctenium giganteum
Flora of Zambia: Dactyloctenium giganteum

External websites:

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


Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Zimbabwe: Species information: Dactyloctenium giganteum.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=105380, retrieved 29 March 2024

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