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| Synonyms: |
Andropogon acutus Stapf Andropogon dregeanus Nees Andropogon pilosissimus Hack. Cymbopogon micratherus Pilg. Hyparrhenia acuta (Stapf) Stapf ex Stent Hyparrhenia brachychaete Peter Hyparrhenia cymbaria sensu Stent & Rattray, non (L.) Stapf. Hyparrhenia elongata Stapf Hyparrhenia micrathera (Pilg.) Pilg. ex Peter Hyparrhenia phyllopoda Stapf Hyparrhenia pilosissima (Hack.) J.G. Anderson Hyparrhenia subaristata Peter |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Robust, densely caespitose perennial; culms up to 200 cm high (or more) and up to 4 mm in diameter at the base, simple or scantily branched. Basal leaf sheaths silky pubescent below, otherwise all sheaths glabrous; leaf laminas up to 60 cm × 3–8 mm, flat or inrolled and narrower, glabrous, usually stiff and glaucous with scaberulous nerves and harsh to the touch, sometimes soft and green. False panicle 20–50 cm long, narrow, fairly dense; spatheoles 2.5–5 cm long, narrowly lanceolate, glabrous or thinly hirsute (rarely the whole panicle copiously villous), becoming reddish-brown; peduncles 1.5–5 cm long, from half as long as to rather longer than the spatheole, pilose above with yellowish hairs; racemes 2–3 cm long, 10–25-awned per pair, usually exserted terminally, tardily deflexed; raceme-bases subequal, the superior 1–1.5 mm long, flattened, stiffly barbate, the apex with a scarious rim and usually produced into a definite oblong appendage up to 0.5 mm long. Homogamous spikelets 5–7 mm long, a single pair at the base of the inferior raceme only, villous or rarely glabrous. Sessile spikelets 4–5 mm long; callus c. 1 mm long, cuneate, subacute to narrowly obtuse at the apex; inferior glume oblong-lanceolate, yellowish-green to light brown or purple, densely villous to hispidulous, rarely glabrous; awn (1)8–20(28) mm long, the column pubescent with tawny hairs. Pedicelled spikelets 5–6 mm long, similar to the sessile spikelets in indumentum and colouring, muticous or with a short awn-point up to 1.5 mm long at the apex; callus scarcely developed; pedicel-tooth obscure. |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | |
| Habitat: | Growing in upland grassland, often in marshy ground and alongside streams |
| Altitude range: (metres) | 1000 - 2300 m |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | The eastern side of Africa from Ethiopia southwards to South Africa, but most abundant in the northern and southern extremities of this range, Malawi, Zimbabwe |
| Zimbabwe distribution: | C,E |
| Growth form(s): | |
| Endemic status: | |
| Red data list status: | |
| Insects associated with this species: | |
| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Literature: |
Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 350. (Includes a picture). Cope, T.A. (2002). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(4) Pages 121 - 122. 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 105. |
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