| Home | > | List of families | > | Poaceae | > | Andropogon | > | chinensis |
| Synonyms: |
Andropogon ascinodis C.B. Clarke Andropogon lindiensis Pilg. Andropogon patris Robyns Andropogon pseudoschinzii Stapf Andropogon schinzii Hack. Andropogon sylvaticus C.E. Hubb. Homoeatherum chinense Nees |
| Common names: | |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Caespitose perennial; culms up to 170 cm high, erect, branched, often glaucous. Leaf sheaths glabrous, with well developed auricles; ligule a short (1.5–4 mm) minutely fringed membrane; laminas 7–20 cm × 5–8 mm, very often involute, tapering to a very fine point. Racemes in pairs, 3.5–9.5 cm long, exserted from the spatheoles only at maturity, silvery with white hairs; peduncles much longer than the racemes at maturity; internodes and pedicels strongly clavate with cilia up to 6 mm long on both margins, the pedicel bilobed at the apex. Sessile spikelet 6–8 mm long, strongly compressed between internode and pedicel, the short callus shallowly inserted; inferior glume with a deep median groove, loosely pilose; superior glume convex on the back, 2-toothed at the tip and with an awn 5–9 mm long; superior lemma bifid to the middle; awn geniculate, 24–30 mm long; anthers 2.2–3.5 mm long, straw-coloured. Pedicelled spikelet male, 4.5–7 mm long; inferior glume loosely pilose, often 2-toothed at the apex, usually purplish-orange, with an awn 3.5–7 mm long; superior glume often with an awn 0.7–5 mm long. |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | chinensis: of China |
| Habitat: | Growing in woodland and scrub and in dambos, usually in loamy or sandy soils |
| Altitude range: | 150 - 1550 m |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | Arabian Peninsula, widespread in tropical and southern Africa, from India to China |
| Mozambique distribution: | N,T,MS |
| 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 4. Cope, T.A. (2002). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(4) Pages 70 - 71. (Includes a picture). Jackson, G. & Wiehe, P.O. (1958). An Annotated Check List of Nyasaland Grasses The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland Page 28. As Andropogon schinzii, A. pseudo-schinzii and A. sylvaticus 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 99. Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 129. |
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