| Note - this takes you off
of our website |
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.
Ehrharta setacea
HABIT Perennial; cushion forming, or mat forming, or caespitose. Rhizomes elongated. Stolons absent, or present. Culms erect, or decumbent, or rambling; 10–60 cm long. Lateral branches ample, or suffrutescent. Leaves apparently irregular, or distichous. Ligule a ciliolate membrane. Leaf-blades linear, or filiform; flat, or conduplicate, or involute; 3–10 cm long; 2–6 mm wide; coriaceous; stiff. Leaf-blade surface smooth, or scabrous.
INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence composed of racemes, or comprising only a few spikelets; comprising 1–15 fertile spikelets.
Racemes 1; single; 2.5–6 cm long; bearing few fertile spikelets.
Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled. Pedicels filiform.
FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 2 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets oblong; laterally compressed; 4–8 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret.
GLUMES Glumes persistent; similar; shorter than spikelet, or reaching apex of florets, or exceeding apex of florets; thinner than fertile lemma; parallel to lemmas, or gaping. Lower glume oblong; 3–8 mm long; 1 length of upper glume; membranous; 1-keeled; 5 -veined. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume oblong; 3–8 mm long; 0.66–1.2 length of adjacent fertile lemma; membranous; without keels; 5 -veined. Upper glume apex acute.
FLORETS Basal sterile florets dissimilar; barren; without significant palea; attached to and deciduous with the fertile. Lemma of lower sterile floret ovate; 1–4 mm long; 0.33–0.5 length of fertile lemma; hyaline; 1-keeled; 3–5 -veined; ribbed; acute; muticous. Lemma of upper sterile floret elliptic; 3–8 mm long; 2–3 length of lower sterile floret; coriaceous; ribbed and tuberculate; obtuse (cucullate); muticous. Fertile lemma oblong; 3–8 mm long; coriaceous; keeled; 7 -veined. Lemma lateral veins ribbed. Lemma surface tuberculate; rough on veins. Lemma apex obtuse; cucullate. Palea 2 -veined. Palea keels approximate.
FLOWER Lodicules 2; membranous. Anthers 6.
DISTRIBUTION Africa: south.
NOTES Ehrharteae. Gibbs-Russell.
Please cite this publication as detailed in How to Cite Version: 3rd February 2016.
