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  1. Family: Poaceae Barnhart
    1. Genus: Aristida L.

      1. Aristida kunthiana Trin. & Rupr.

        This species is accepted, and its native range is Senegal to Mali.

    [GB]
    Habit
    Annual; caespitose. Butt sheaths glabrous. Culms 30-45 cm long. Culm-internodes distally glabrous. Leaf-sheath oral hairs bearded. Ligule a fringe of hairs. Leaf-blades flat, or convolute; 5-20 cm long; 2-3 mm wide.
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle open; elliptic; effuse; 10-15 cm long. Primary panicle branches simple; 3-10 cm long. Panicle branches capillary. Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled.
    Spikelets
    Spikelets comprising 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; subterete; 6-12 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Floret callus evident; 0.75 mm long; pilose; acute.
    Fertile
    Spikelets comprising 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; subterete; 6-12 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Floret callus evident; 0.75 mm long; pilose; acute.
    Glume
    Glumes persistent; similar; reaching apex of florets; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume lanceolate; 5-8 mm long; 1 length of upper glume; membranous; 1-keeled; 1 -veined. Lower glume primary vein scaberulous. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex dentate; 2 -fid; acuminate; awned; 1 -awned. Lower glume awn 1-2 mm long. Upper glume lanceolate; 5-8 mm long; 1 length of adjacent fertile lemma; membranous; 1-keeled; 1 -veined. Upper glume lateral veins absent.
    Florets
    Fertile lemma elliptic; subterete; 5-8 mm long; coriaceous; without keel; 3 -veined. Lemma surface scaberulous; rough in lines. Lemma margins involute; covering most of palea. Lemma apex acuminate; awned; 3 -awned. Principal lemma awn 3-branched; with 15-25 mm long limb; without a column; deciduous; abscissing from top of lemma. Lateral lemma awns 10-20 mm long; subequal to principal, or shorter than principal. Palea 0.1 length of lemma; without keels.
    Flowers
    Anthers 3.
    Distribution
    Africa: west tropical.
    Reference
    Aristideae. Henrard.
    [FWTA]

    Gramineae, W. D. Clayton. Flora of West Tropical Africa 3:2. 1972

    Habit
    Annual, 45 cm. high, closely resembling A. mutabilis.

    Distribution

    Native to:

    Mali, Senegal

    Aristida kunthiana Trin. & Rupr. appears in other Kew resources:

    First published in Sp. Gram. Stipac.: 151 (1842)

    Accepted by

    • Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. & Williamson, H. (2006). World Grass Species - Synonymy database The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
    • Boudet, G., Lebrun, J.P. & Demange, R. (1986). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Mali: 1-465. Etudes d'Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux.
    • Lebrun, J.P. (1973). Énumération des plantes vasculaires du Sénégal: 1-209. Maisons Alfort: Institut d'élevage et de médecine vétérinaire des pays tropicaux.
    • Hepper, F.N. (ed.) (1972). Flora of West Tropical Africa, ed. 2, 3(2): 277-574.

    Literature

    Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • Henrard in Med. Rijks Herb. 58: 142.
    • Sp. Gram. Stip. 151 (1842)
    Kew Backbone Distributions
    • Boudet, G., Lebrun, J.P. & Demange, R. (1986). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Mali: 1-465. Etudes d'Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux.

    Sources

    Flora of West Tropical Africa
    Flora of West Tropical Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2020. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

    Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2020. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0