| Home | > | List of families | > | Poaceae | > | Eragrostis | > | pilosa |
| Synonyms: |
Eragrostis aethiopica sensu Simon, non Chiov. Eragrostis micrantha auct. non Hack. Poa pilosa L. |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Loosely caespitose annual, culms up to 70 cm tall, erect or ascending, branched or unbranched, glabrous at the nodes, glandular or eglandular; leaf sheaths glabrous; ligule a line of hairs; leaf laminas 2–20 cm × 1–4 mm, linear, flat, glabrous, eglandular.Panicle 4–25 cm long, elliptic or ovate, open, the spikelets evenly distributed on pedicels 2–6 mm long, the lowermost primary branches in a whorl (except in smaller specimens), the remainder not so, terminating in a fertile spikelet, thinly long-pilose in the axils (especially, and sometimes only, in the whorled branches), eglandular or sometimes with scattered crateriform glands.Spikelets 3–7 × 0.7–1.2 mm, linear, lightly laterally compressed, 4–14-flowered, the florets disarticulating from below upwards, the rhachilla persistent; glumes very unequal, the inferior 0.5–0.7 mm long, reaching to c. 1/5 the way along the adjacent lemma, keeled, lanceolate in profile, glabrous, obtuse at the apex; the superior 0.7–1 mm long, reaching to c. 1/4 the way along the adjacent lemma, keeled, narrowly ovate in profile, glabrous, subacute at the apex; lemmas 1–1.6(1.8) mm long, keeled, narrowly ovate in profile, thinly membranous with distinct lateral nerves, appressed to the rhachilla but those in opposite rows scarcely imbricate and the rhachilla ± visible between them, purplish-green, glabrous, subacute to obtuse at the apex; palea deciduous soon after the lemma, glabrous on the flanks, the keels slender, wingless, scaberulous; anthers 3, 0.2–0.3 mm long.Caryopsis 0.6–1 mm long, elliptic but with one side straight, somewhat laterally compressed. |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | pilosa: pilose, with long soft hairs |
| Habitat: | Widespread in hot, low to medium altitudes, in dambo and floodplain grassland, on river sand banks and alluvium and in black basaltic soil, in mopane woodland on clayey soils and in sandveld; also commonly as a weed of cultivated and disturbed places |
| Altitude range: (metres) | 10 - 1700 m |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | Tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World, introduced in the New World |
| 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: |
Cope, T.A. (1999). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(2) Pages 108 - 109. Heath, A. & Heath, R. (2009). Field Guide to the Plants of Northern Botswana including the Okavango Delta Kew Publishing Page 473. (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 104. Poilecot, P. (2007). Eragrostis species of Zimbabwe Éditions Quae,Versailles, France Pages 126 - 127. (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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