New! - Search other data sources for Bothriochloa radicans

Help - Wrong Description?

Kew Data Sources

Kew's Herbarium Catalogue
ePIC - Electronic Plant Information Centre

External Data Sources

Note - this takes you off of our website
Use your browser's back button to return to this page

GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora

Descriptions

W.D. Clayton, M. Vorontsova, K.T. Harman & H. Williamson

© Copyright The Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Bothriochloa radicans

HABIT Perennial; cushion forming. Culms geniculately ascending; 25–100 cm long. Culm-nodes pubescent, or bearded. Lateral branches ample, or fastigiate. Ligule an eciliate membrane. Leaf-blades 6–20 cm long; 2–6 mm wide.

INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence composed of racemes.

Racemes 5–16; digitate; 3–7 cm long. Central inflorescence axis 0–5 cm long. Rhachis fragile at the nodes; flattened; villous on margins. Rhachis internodes linear. Rhachis internode tip transverse. Raceme-bases brief, or linear.

Spikelets in pairs. Fertile spikelets sessile; 1 in the cluster. Companion sterile spikelets pedicelled; 1 in the cluster. Pedicels linear; flattened; with a translucent median line (also present in internodes); villous.

STERILE SPIKELETS Companion sterile spikelets well-developed; comprising 2 subequal glumes without lemmas, or containing empty lemmas, or male; linear; 2.5–4 mm long; as long as fertile. Companion sterile spikelet glumes without depressions; glabrous. Companion sterile spikelet lemmas 0–1; enclosed by glumes.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; dorsally compressed; 2.5–4 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures. Spikelet callus pilose; base obtuse; attached transversely.

GLUMES Glumes dissimilar; exceeding apex of florets; firmer than fertile lemma; dull. Lower glume elliptic; 1 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; keel-less except near apex. Lower glume surface flat; without pits; pilose; hairy below. Upper glume lanceolate; 1-keeled.

FLORETS Basal sterile florets barren; without significant palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret hyaline. Fertile lemma linear; hyaline; without keel. Lemma apex entire; awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn apical; geniculate; 10–25 mm long overall; with twisted column. Column of lemma awn glabrous. Palea absent or minute.

DISTRIBUTION Africa: west-central tropical, northeast tropical, east tropical, southern tropical, south, and middle Atlantic ocean. Asia-temperate: Arabia.

NOTES Andropogoneae. FTEA.

Please cite this publication as detailed in How to Cite Version: 3rd February 2016.