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| Synonyms: |
Eragrostis sp. (Rushworth 1437A) of Simon Eragrostis chloromelas Steud. Eragrostis jeffreysii Hack. Poa curvula Schrad. Sporobolus sp. (Weber 271) of Simon |
| Common names: | Weeping love grass (English) |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | |
| Description: |
Densely caespitose perennial without rhizomes or stolons; culms up to 120 cm tall, slender or stout, firm or spongy, usually erect, sometimes ascending, usually unbranched, rarely branched, glabrous at the nodes, the internodes glabrous or pilose, eglandular; basal leaf sheaths silky-pilose below, coriaceous and hard, the nerves forming close, prominent ridges, terete, eglandular, persistent; ligule a line of hairs; leaf laminas 10–30 cm × 1–3(10) mm, linear to broadly linear, flat or involute, sometimes filiform, straight or flexuous, glabrous to pilose, eglandular.Panicle 6–30 cm long, ovate and loose and spreading to narrow and contracted, the spikelets evenly distributed on pedicels 0.5–4 mm long, the primary branches in whorls below or not, terminating in a fertile spikelet, glabrous or pilose in the axils, eglandular.Spikelets 4–10 × 1–1.5 mm, linear to narrowly oblong, laterally compressed, 4–13-flowered, the lemmas disarticulating from below upwards, the rhachilla persistent, sometimes fragile above; glumes unequal, keeled, glabrous, acute at the apex, the inferior 1–1.8 mm long, reaching to between 2/3 and 4/5 the way along the adjacent lemma, narrowly lanceolate in profile, the superior 1.5–2.5 mm long, reaching to between 1/2 and 3/4 the way along the adjacent lemma, lanceolate in profile; lemmas 1.4–2.6 mm long, keeled, narrowly ovate-elliptic in profile, membranous with indistinct lateral nerves, appressed to the rhachilla, those in opposite rows not overlapping, the rhachilla visible between them, greyish-green, minutely scaberulous, subacute at the apex; palea persistent, glabrous on the flanks, the keels slender, wingless, smooth and glabrous or scaberulous; anthers 3, 0.8–1.1 mm long.Caryopsis 0.7–1 mm long, elliptic. |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | |
| Habitat: | Widespread, in montane grassland and in dambos, floodplain grassland, wooded grassland on Kalahari Sand, in miombo woodland and on rocky outcrops and hillsides; also in disturbed ground at roadsides, often grown as a pasture grass |
| Altitude range: | 430 - 2140 m |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | Kenya, Tanzania and southwards to South Africa, introduced throughout the tropics as a fodder grass. |
| Mozambique distribution: | N,M |
| 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 24. 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 144 - 145. Jackson, G. & Wiehe, P.O. (1958). An Annotated Check List of Nyasaland Grasses The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland Page 67. 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 103. Poilecot, P. (2007). Eragrostis species of Zimbabwe Éditions Quae,Versailles, France Pages 172 - 173. (Includes a picture). Roodt, V. (2015). Grasses & Grazers of Botswana and the surrounding savanna Struik Nature, South Africa Pages 108 - 109. (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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