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Synonyms: |
Sporobolus albomarginatus Stent & J.M. Rattray Sporobolus humifusus var. Stapf ex Broun & Mass. Triachyrum cordofanum Steud. |
Common names: | |
Frequency: | |
Status: | Native |
Description: |
Caespitose annual; culms up to 60 cm tall, erect, branched or unbranched; leaf sheaths chartaceous, glabrous or with tubercle-based hairs near the margins above, terete or lightly compressed; leaf laminas 4–12 cm × 3–6 mm, usually flat, glabrous or tuberculate-pilose on the surfaces, scabrid or with tubercle-based hairs on the margins below but without raised glands interspersed among them, acute or subacute at the apex.Panicle 2–10 cm long, ovate; branches in a succession of whorls, smooth, with scattered elongated viscid glandular patches, the spikelets 2–5 on secondary branchlets, these absent from the lowermost 1/5–1/4 of the primary branches.Spikelets 1.3–2 mm long, olive-green to dark grey; inferior glume 1/5–2/5 the length of the spikelet, oblong, nerveless, glabrous, obtuse or denticulate at the apex; superior glume as long as the spikelet, elliptic, 1-nerved, minutely asperulous or scaberulous, sometimes quite glabrous, acute at the apex; lemma as long as the spikelet or almost so, elliptic; anthers 3, 0.7–1.2(1.5) mm long.Grain elliptic, 0.6–0.8 mm long, terete or lightly laterally compressed. |
Notes: | |
Derivation of specific name: | |
Habitat: | At low altitudes in mopane woodland on alluvial sands and clays, in river bank sand and Kalahari Sand dambos; also in disturbed sandy ground |
Altitude range: (metres) | 250 - 1000 m |
Flowering time: | |
Worldwide distribution: | tropical Africa, mostly in the east and south |
Zimbabwe distribution: | N,W,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: |
Cope, T.A. (1999). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(2) Page 172. Heath, A. & Heath, R. (2009). Field Guide to the Plants of Northern Botswana including the Okavango Delta Kew Publishing Page 485. (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 110. Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 145. |
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