| Home | > | List of families | > | Poaceae | > | Eragrostis | > | lappula |
| Synonyms: |
Eragrostis comata Peter Eragrostis frederici Rendle Eragrostis lappula var. divaricata Stapf Eragrostis uniglumis sensu B.K. Simon |
| Common names: | Mauve love grass (English) |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Caespitose perennial without rhizomes or stolons; culms up to 120 cm tall, erect, unbranched, glabrous at the nodes, eglandular; basal leaf sheaths glabrous, chartaceous, terete, eglandular, persistent; ligule a line of hairs; leaf laminas 10–25 cm × 2–4 mm, linear, involute or rarely flat, glabrous to hoary-tomentose above, eglandular.Panicle 10–30 cm long, ovate and spreading or linear and contracted, the spikelets evenly distributed on pedicels 2–7 mm long, the primary branches not in whorls, terminating in a fertile spikelet, loosely pilose in the axils, eglandular.Spikelets 5–10 × 1.5–3 mm, narrowly oblong at first, becoming ovate, laterally compressed, 5–15-flowered, the florets disarticulating from below upwards, the rhachilla persistent; glumes unequal, reaching almost to the apex of the adjacent lemmas, keeled, lanceolate in profile, glabrous, acute at the apex, the inferior 2–2.5 mm long, the superior 2.5–3 mm long; lemmas 2–3 mm long, keeled, lanceolate in profile, thinly membranous with prominent lateral nerves, ± appressed to the rhachilla at first but eventually diverging at 45°, those in opposite rows not imbricate, the rhachilla visible between them, brownish or reddish, the lateral nerves and sometimes also the keel with stiff tubercle-based hairs, acute at the apex; palea deciduous with or soon after the lemma, glabrous on the flanks, the keels slender, wingless, ciliate with stiff tubercle-based hairs, these protruding from the sides of the lemma; anthers 3, c. 1.2 mm long.Caryopsis 1–1.5 mm long, narrowly lanceolate. |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | |
| Habitat: | Dambo and floodplain grassland, swampy grassland and in damp sandy soil on river banks, and in wooded grassland and on termitaria, occasionally in disturbed ground |
| Altitude range: (metres) | 0 - 1660 m |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | Kenya and Tanzania southwards to South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, 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. & Mugarisanwa, N.H. (2003). Plants of the Matobo District National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, Zimbabwe Page 15. Cope, T.A. (1999). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(2) Pages 74 - 75. Heath, A. & Heath, R. (2009). Field Guide to the Plants of Northern Botswana including the Okavango Delta Kew Publishing Page 471. (Includes a picture). Jackson, G. & Wiehe, P.O. (1958). An Annotated Check List of Nyasaland Grasses The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland Page 40. Jackson, G. & Wiehe, P.O. (1958). An Annotated Check List of Nyasaland Grasses The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland Page 40. As Eragrostis lappula divaricata 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 58 - 59. (Includes a picture). Roodt, V. (2015). Grasses & Grazers of Botswana and the surrounding savanna Struik Nature, South Africa Pages 116 - 117. (Includes a picture). Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 137. 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 189. |
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