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Synonyms: |
Eragrostis atrovirens sensu Vesey-FitzGerald, non (Desf.) Steud. Eragrostis inamoena sensu Simon, sensu Jacobsen, non K. Schum. Eragrostis valida Pilg. |
Common names: | |
Frequency: | , |
Status: | |
Description: |
Robust, densely caespitose perennial without rhizomes or stolons; culms stout, up to 200 cm tall, erect, branched, glabrous at the nodes, eglandular; basal leaf sheaths glabrous, thinly chartaceous, terete, eglandular, persistent; ligule a line of hairs; leaf laminas up to 30 cm × 4(5) mm, linear, involute, glabrous or ciliate below, eglandular.Panicle (15)20–30 cm long, narrowly elliptic to narrowly oblong (rarely ovate), open, the spikelets clustered along the distal half of the primary branches on pedicels 1–2.5 mm long, the primary branches not in whorls, terminating in a fertile spikelet, glabrous in the axils, eglandular.Spikelets 5.5–13 × 1.8–2 mm, narrowly oblong to oblong, laterally compressed, 12–25-flowered, the florets disarticulating from below upwards, the rhachilla persistent; glumes unequal, reaching to just beyond the middle of the adjacent lemmas, keeled, lanceolate in profile, glabrous, acute at the apex, the inferior 0.8–1.3 mm long, the superior 1.2–1.6 mm long; lemmas 1.7–2.2 mm long, keeled, narrowly elliptic to narrowly ovate in profile, membranous with distinct lateral nerves, diverging from the rhachilla at c. 45°, those in opposite rows not imbricate and the rhachilla visible between them, dark olive-green, glabrous, subacute at the apex; palea deciduous with the lemma, glabrous on the flanks, the keels slender, wingless, scaberulous; anthers 3, 0.9–1.1 mm long.Caryopsis 0.7–1 mm long, narrowly elliptic to linear. |
Notes: | |
Derivation of specific name: | |
Habitat: | Usually in large stands beside lakes, dams and rivers, in dambos and swamp margins and in the spray zone of waterfalls, often rooted in water |
Altitude range: (metres) | 850 - 1500 m |
Flowering time: | |
Worldwide distribution: | Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
Zimbabwe distribution: | N,W,C |
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 111. 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 104. Poilecot, P. (2007). Eragrostis species of Zimbabwe Éditions Quae,Versailles, France Pages 132 - 133. (Includes a picture). Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 136. |
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