| Synonyms: |
Andropogon buchananii Stapf Andropogon pleiarthron Stapf Andropogon poecilotrichus Hack. Cymbopogon pleiarthron (Stapf) Stapf ex Burtt Davy Hyparrhenia buchananii (Stapf) Stapf ex Stent Hyparrhenia familiaris var. pilosa Robyns |
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| Description: |
Perennial; culms up to 130 cm high. Leaf sheaths glabrous or very rarely loosely pilose; leaf laminas up to 30 cm × 3 mm, rigid. False panicle up to 30 cm long, lax and open; spatheoles 4–8 cm long, linear; peduncles about as long as the spatheoles, glabrous or with whitish or yellowish hairs towards the apex; racemes 1.5–2 cm long, 4–7-awned per pair, fulvously pilose, terminally exserted, not or tardily deflexed; raceme-bases unequal, the superior 3.5–7 mm long, terete, glabrous or rarely loosely and thinly pilose, the articulation with the peduncle glabrous. Homogamous spikelets similar to the pedicelled spikelets, 1 or very rarely 2 pairs at the base of the inferior raceme and 2 (or sometimes only 1) at the base of the superior, the number usually variable within the same panicle. Sessile spikelets 5.5–7 mm long; callus 1–2 mm long, acute to pungent; inferior glume narrowly lanceolate, pubescent with fulvous or yellow hairs; awn 2.5–4 cm long, the column rufously pubescent. Pedicelled spikelets 4–7 mm long, narrowly lanceolate, usually with an awn-point up to 2 mm long at the apex; callus absent; pedicel-tooth up to 0.2 mm long, triangular. |
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| Worldwide distribution: | Tropical and South Africa, but mostly on the eastern side |
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| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Literature: |
Chapano, C. & Mugarisanwa, N.H. (2003). Plants of the Matobo District National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, Zimbabwe Page 21. Cope, T.A. (2002). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(4) Pages 105 - 106. 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. Ntore, S. & al. (2024). Checklist of the vascular plants of Burundi Page 200. Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 139. |