Poaceae
Aristida

Aristida funiculata Trin. & Rupr.

First published in Sp. Gram. Stipac.: 159 (1842)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Cape Verde to NW. India. It is an annual and grows primarily in the desert or dry shrubland biome.

Descriptions

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Annual up to 30 cm high
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Panicle sparse, contracted, scarcely exserted from the uppermost sheath
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
Glumes unequal, linear-lanceolate, long-acuminate, the lower 15–25 mm long, the upper 13–20 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Lemma, including the callus, 4–7.5 mm long, terete, smooth, articulated at the summit and bearing a column 2–4.5 cm long; awns subequal, filiform, 4.5–8.5 cm long.
Distribution
N2; C1, 2; S1 tropical Africa westwards to Senegambia, then eastwards through Arabia to Pakistan and India.
Ecology
Altitude range 165–200 m.
Vernacular
Bille, birreh (Somali)
Note
Readily distinguished from other members of sect. Arthratherum by its annual habit combined with inverse position of the glumes with the lower longer than the upper. A. leptura is the only other annual in the section, but this has subequal, very long glumes.
[FSOM]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Gramineae, W. D. Clayton, S. M. Phillips & S. A. Renvoize. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1974

Morphology General Habit
Tufted annual with wiry culms 15–30 cm. high.
Morphology Leaves
Leaf-blades flat or folded, 4–10 cm. long and up to 2 mm. wide.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Panicle linear, up to 10 cm. long, few-flowered.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets green tinged with brown; glumes linear, membranous, the lower 20–30 mm. long, the upper 3–6 mm. shorter, both finely attenuate; lemma cylindrical, 4 mm. long, scabrid above, articulated at the apex; callus 2 mm. long, conical, pungent; column (2–)3–4.5 cm. long, the base as wide as the summit of the lemma, straight for a short distance, thereafter strongly twisted; awn-branches subequal, 3.5–4.5 cm. long.
Habitat
Dry sandy soil in Acacia, Commiphora deciduous bushland; ± 300 m.
Distribution
K1 Senegal to the Somali Republic, thence through Arabia to India
[FTEA]

Morphology General Habit
Annual; caespitose. Culms 15-30 cm long; wiry. Culm-internodes distally glabrous. Ligule a fringe of hairs. Leaf-blades flat, or conduplicate; 4-10 cm long; 1-2 mm wide.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle open; linear; 5-10 cm long. Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets comprising 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; subterete; 20-30 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Floret callus elongated; 2 mm long; pilose; pungent.
Fertile
Spikelets comprising 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; subterete; 20-30 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Floret callus elongated; 2 mm long; pilose; pungent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
Glumes persistent; similar; exceeding apex of florets; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume linear; 20-30 mm long; 1.2 length of upper glume; membranous; 1-keeled; 1 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex attenuate. Upper glume linear; 17-25 mm long; 4-6 length of adjacent fertile lemma; membranous; 1-keeled; 1 -veined. Upper glume lateral veins absent. Upper glume apex attenuate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Fertile lemma elliptic; subterete; 4 mm long; coriaceous; without keel; 3 -veined. Lemma surface scabrous; rough above. Lemma margins convolute; covering most of palea. Lemma apex acute; awned; 3 -awned. Principal lemma awn 3-branched; with 35-45 mm long limb; with twisted column; deciduous; abscissing from top of lemma. Column of lemma awn (2-)3-4.5 mm long. Lateral lemma awns 35-45 mm long; subequal to principal. Palea 0.25 length of lemma; without keels.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Anthers 3.
Distribution
Africa: north, Macaronesia, west tropical, northeast tropical, and east tropical. Asia-temperate: western Asia and Arabia. Asia-tropical: India and Indo-China.
Reference
Aristideae. FTEA.
[GB]

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

Morphology General Habit
Annual, up to 46 cm. high
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
Pale brown glumes.
[FWTA]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Somalia

    • Flora of Somalia
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

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

  • 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

    • Clayton, W.D., Vorontsova, M.S., Harman, K.T. and Williamson, H. (2006 onwards). GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora.
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images