Digitaria radicosa

HABIT Annual. Culms rambling; slender; 20–40 cm long. Ligule an eciliate membrane. Leaf-blades lanceolate; 2–7 cm long; 2–5 mm wide.

INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence composed of racemes.

Racemes 2–4; digitate; unilateral; 3–9 cm long. Rhachis narrowly winged; angular; smooth on margins. Spikelet packing 0.5 their length apart.

Spikelets in pairs. Fertile spikelets pedicelled; 2 in the cluster. Pedicels unequal.

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

GLUMES Glumes two; dissimilar; shorter than spikelet; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume ovate; 0.1–0.2 mm long; 0.05–0.1 length of spikelet; hyaline; without keels; 0 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex obtuse. Upper glume lanceolate; 0.33–0.5 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 3 -veined. Upper glume surface pubescent. Upper glume apex acute.

FLORETS Basal sterile florets barren; without significant palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret elliptic; 1 length of spikelet; membranous; 5(–7) -veined; with unevenly spaced veins (laterals contiguous); pubescent; eciliate on margins, or ciliate on margins; acute. Fertile lemma lanceolate; 2.5–3 mm long; cartilaginous; much thinner on margins; yellow, or light brown; without keel. Lemma margins flat; covering most of palea. Lemma apex acute. Palea cartilaginous.

DISTRIBUTION Africa: west-central tropical, east tropical, and western Indian ocean. Asia-temperate: China and eastern Asia. Asia-tropical: India, Indo-China, Malesia, and Papuasia. Australasia: Australia. Pacific: southwestern, south-central, northwestern, and north-central.

NOTES Paniceae. FTEA.

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