| Home | > | List of families | > | Poaceae | > | Melinis | > | tenuissima |
| Synonyms: | |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Straggling perennial. Culms (28)50–110(140) cm. high, ascending. Leaf laminae (1.5)2– 8(10) cm. long, 3–6 mm. wide, flat, glabrous or rarely pubescent. Panicle 10–20 cm. long, broadly ovate, delicately branched. Pedicels smooth, with a few long hairs towards the apex. Spikelets 1.1–1.5 mm. long, narrowly ovate to oblong. Inferior glume an obscure rim up to 0.1 mm. long, inserted close to the superior; superior glume 5-nerved, thinly membranous, irregularly dentate, glabrous to sparsely hairy. Inferior floret barren without a palea, its lemma 3–5-nerved, emarginate or irregularly dentate, equalling the superior glume but narrower and with an awn (1.5)4–10 mm. long. |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | |
| Habitat: | Grassland and Brachystegia woodland, very often at anthropogenic sites and near river margins |
| Altitude range: (metres) | 1000 - 2000 m |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | Tropical Africa |
| Zimbabwe distribution: | N,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 38. Clayton, W.D. (1989). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(3) Page 124. Jackson, G. & Wiehe, P.O. (1958). An Annotated Check List of Nyasaland Grasses The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland Pages 48 - 49. 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 106. |
| Home | > | List of families | > | Poaceae | > | Melinis | > | tenuissima |