New! - Search other data sources for Brachiaria lata

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.

Brachiaria lata

HABIT Annual. Culms erect, or geniculately ascending; robust; 30–150 cm long; 4–7 -noded; without nodal roots, or rooting from lower nodes. Culm-nodes pubescent. Leaf-sheaths glabrous on surface, or hirsute; outer margin hairy. Ligule a fringe of hairs. Leaf-blade base broadly rounded, or cordate. Leaf-blades lanceolate; 6–12 cm long; 8–24 mm wide; membranous. Leaf-blade surface glabrous, or hirsute. Leaf-blade margins cartilaginous; scabrous; tuberculate-ciliate; hairy at base.

INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence composed of racemes.

Racemes 5–30; borne along a central axis; closely spaced; unilateral; 2–8 cm long; simple, or secondarily branched. Central inflorescence axis 1–12 cm long. Rhachis wingless; angular; 0.25–0.5 mm wide; scabrous on margins; glabrous on margins. Spikelet packing crowded; irregular.

Spikelets in pairs, or clustered at each node. Fertile spikelets sessile and pedicelled; 2–4 in the cluster. Pedicels 0.3–0.8 mm long.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets oblong; dorsally compressed; compressed slightly; acute; 2.5–3 mm long; falling entire.

GLUMES Glumes dissimilar; reaching apex of florets; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume ovate; clasping; 0.33–0.5 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 3–5 -veined. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume oblong; 1 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 7 -veined. Upper glume apex acute.

FLORETS Basal sterile florets male, or barren; with palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret similar to upper glume; oblong; 1 length of spikelet; membranous; 5 -veined; acute. Fertile lemma elliptic; 2.5 mm long; indurate; yellow; without keel. Lemma surface granulose; rugulose. Lemma margins involute. Lemma apex obtuse; mucronate. Palea involute; indurate.

FLOWER Anthers 3; 1 mm long.

DISTRIBUTION Africa: west tropical, west-central tropical, and northeast tropical. Asia-temperate: Arabia. Asia-tropical: India.

NOTES Paniceae. FTA.

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