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| Synonyms: |
Agrostis kentrophylla K. Schum. Sporobolus arabicus Boiss. Sporobolus genalensis Chiov. Sporobolus gillii Stent Sporobolus ioclados var. usitatus (Stent) Chippind. Sporobolus kentrophyllus (K. Schum.) Clayton Sporobolus marginatus A. Rich. Sporobolus rangei Pilg. Sporobolus seineri Mez Sporobolus smutsii Stent Sporobolus usitatus Stent Sporobolus vryburgensis Stent Vilfa ioclados Trin. Vilfa marginata (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Steud. Vilfa pallida Trin. |
| Common names: | Pan dropseed (English) |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Densely caespitose perennial, sometimes short-lived, often with stolons, sometimes with a short oblique rhizome; culms up to 100 cm tall, ascending to erect, usually branched; basal leaf sheaths chartaceous to subcoriaceous, glabrous on the back, pilose near the margins, compressed and flabellate, persistent; leaf laminas 1.5–30 cm × 2–8.5 mm, coarse, flat, folded or involute, glabrous or scaberulous on the surface, the margins cartilaginous, scabrid and sometimes ciliate with tubercle-based hairs.Panicle 5.5–25 cm long, narrowly ovate to pyramidal; branches, or at least the lowermost, in a succession of whorls but often the upper whorls somewhat irregular, scaberulous, eglandular or with linear glands, the spikelets on short secondary branchlets, these spreading or appressed, confined to the distal part of the primary branches.Spikelets 1.4–2.2 mm long, pallid to greyish-green or rarely purplish; inferior glume 1/4–1/2 the length of the spikelet, oblong to ovate (but widely variable even in the same panicle), nerveless, glabrous or minutely hispidulous, obtuse or denticulate to acute at the apex; superior glume (1/2)2/3 as long to as long as the spikelet, ovate, 1-nerved, glabrous or minutely hispidulous, acute at the apex; lemma as long as the spikelet or almost so, similar to the superior glume; anthers 3, 0.9–1.7 mm long.Grain 0.8–1.2 mm long, elliptic, somewhat laterally compressed. |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | |
| Habitat: | Low altitude river valleys, on saline flats, pans and salt-marshes often in pure stands; mopane woodlands usually where there is impeded drainage caused by a shallow sodic layer; in floodplain and swampy grasslands, in riverside sand and clay alluvium |
| Altitude range: (metres) | Up to 1370 m |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | tropical Africa to South Africa, and through Arabia to Iran, Pakistan and India |
| 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. & Mamuto, M. (2003). Plants of the Chimanimani District National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, Zimbabwe Page 52. Chapano, C. & Mugarisanwa, N.H. (2003). Plants of the Matobo District National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, Zimbabwe Page 34. Cope, T.A. (1999). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(2) Pages 174 - 177. Heath, A. & Heath, R. (2009). Field Guide to the Plants of Northern Botswana including the Okavango Delta Kew Publishing Page 486. (Includes a picture). Jackson, G. & Wiehe, P.O. (1958). An Annotated Check List of Nyasaland Grasses The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland Page 61. As Sporobolus marginatus 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 110. Roodt, V. (2015). Grasses & Grazers of Botswana and the surrounding savanna Struik Nature, South Africa Pages 194 - 195. (Includes a picture). Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 145. 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 192. |
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