- Family: Poaceae Barnhart
- Genus: Brachypodium P.Beauv.
Brachypodium flexum Nees
- Genus: Brachypodium P.Beauv.
[GB]
- Morphology General Habit
- Perennial; culms solitary, or mat forming. Culms decumbent; 30-100 cm long; wiry; rooting from lower nodes. Culm-internodes scaberulous. Culm-nodes pubescent. Leaf-sheaths scaberulous; glabrous on surface, or pilose. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 1 mm long. Leaf-blades 5-17 cm long; 2-6 mm wide; flaccid. Leaf-blade surface scabrous; rough abaxially; pilose; sparsely hairy; hairy adaxially.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescence composed of racemes. Racemes 1; single; drooping, or erect; bilateral; 4-15 cm long; bearing few fertile spikelets; bearing 3-9 fertile spikelets on each. Rhachis glabrous on surface; scabrous on margins. Spikelet packing broadside to rhachis; lax; 1.5 their length apart; 2 -rowed. Spikelets ascending; solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled. Pedicels oblong; 1.5 mm long.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
- Spikelets comprising 6-12 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets lanceolate; laterally compressed; 15-30 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret.
- Fertile
- Spikelets comprising 6-12 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets lanceolate; laterally compressed; 15-30 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
- Glumes persistent; similar; shorter than spikelet. Lower glume lanceolate; (3-)4-8 mm long; 0.9-1 length of upper glume; membranous; without keels; (3-)4-5 -veined. Lower glume apex acute, or acuminate. Upper glume lanceolate; 4-10 mm long; 0.5-1 length of adjacent fertile lemma; membranous; without keels; 7 -veined. Upper glume apex acute, or acuminate.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
- Fertile lemma lanceolate; (5-)7-11 mm long; without keel; 7 -veined. Lemma surface scaberulous; glabrous, or pubescent, or pilose. Lemma apex acute; awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn apical; 4-8 mm long overall. Palea keels ciliolate. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Anthers 3; 3 mm long. Ovary with a fleshy appendage below style insertion; pubescent on apex.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; hairy at apex; apex fleshy. Hilum linear; 1 length of caryopsis.
- Distribution
- Africa: west tropical, west-central tropical, northeast tropical, east tropical, southern tropical, south, and western Indian ocean. Asia-temperate: Arabia.
- Reference
- Brachypodieae. FTEA.
[FWTA]
Gramineae, W. D. Clayton. Flora of West Tropical Africa 3:2. 1972
- Morphology General Habit
- Weak-stemmed perennial 30–90 cm. high.
[FZ]
Gramineae, E. Launert. Flora Zambesiaca 10:1. 1971
- Morphology General Habit
- A very variable perennial.
- Morphology Culms
- Culms up to 100 cm. tall, 5-many-noded, usually branched below, rarely simple, straggling, ascending from a geniculate base, or often decumbent and rooting from the lower nodes, terete, wiry, rather slender, smooth, glabrous or sometimes hairy below the nodes; nodes finely pubescent.
- Morphology Leaves Leaf sheaths
- Leaf-sheaths shorter than the internodes, striate, tight at first, later slipping off the culm, with a row of spreading hairs along the margins, otherwise glabrous or rarely scattered pilose.
- Morphology Leaves Ligules
- Ligule c. 1 mm. long, truncate.
- Morphology Leaves Leaf lamina
- Leaf-laminae 5-15 x 0.3-0.8 cm., linear, long tapering to a fine flexible point, dark-green to glaucous, somewhat rigid to almost flaccid, usually scattered pilose, sometimes glabrous, smooth on the upper, scaberulous on the lower surface.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Raceme 4-15 cm. long, erect or more often pendulous, bearing 3-9 spikelets; rhachis very slender, frequently curved, compressed, glabrous, scabrous mainly along the margins.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pedicel
- Pedicels hardly more than 1.5 mm. long.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
- Spikelets 1.25-4.5 cm. long, 7-many-flowered, usually overlapping but sometimes remote, horizontally spreading to obliquely ascending, glabrous or thinly pubescent.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
- Glumes with the apex acute to acuminate, chartaceous, strongly nerved; inferior 3-6 mm. long, (3)4-5-nerved, narrowly triangular to lanceolate-subulate; superior 5-8.5 mm. long, 7-nerved, lanceolate to lanceolate-oblong.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Lemma
- Lemmas 6-8 mm. long, 7-nerved, firmly membranous, lanceolate, tapering into the awn, inconspicuously scaberulous, rarely shortly pubescent; awn 3-7.5 mm. long, slender, straight.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Palea
- Paleas 7-8 mm. long, with rigid cilia along the keels.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Anthers
- Anthers c. 3 mm. long, linear.
[FTEA]
Gramineae, W. D. Clayton, S. M. Phillips & S. A. Renvoize. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1974
- Morphology General Habit
- Weak stemmed perennial, often forming dense mats.
- Morphology Culms
- Culms 30–100 cm. high, usually scaberulous, slender, wiry, geniculately ascending, pubescent at the nodes.
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaf-blades 5–17 cm. long and 2–6 mm. wide, flat, thin, sparsely pilose above, scabrid beneath; sheaths nearly always scabrid, glabrous or sometimes sparsely pilose.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescence 6–12 cm. long, usually bearing 5–8 spikelets.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
- Spikelets 1.5–3 cm. long, narrowly lanceolate, mostly 6–12-flowered; glumes lanceolate, the lower (3–)4–8 mm. long, the upper 4–10 mm. long, acute or tapering to a fine point; lemmas narrowly lanceolate, (5–)7–11 mm. long, scaberulous, pubescent or weakly pilose, rarely glabrous, acute, tipped by an awn 4–8 mm. long.
- Figures
- Fig. 24, p. 72.
- Habitat
- In shade of open or closed upland forest, bamboo thicket and ericaceous bushland; 2000–3000 m.
- Distribution
- Sudan Republic and Ethiopia to South Africa and Madagascar K2 K3 K4 K5 T2 T3 T4 T6 T7 U1 U2 U3
Doubtfully present in:
Yemen
Native to:
Burundi, Cabinda, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Free State, Gulf of Guinea Is., Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Introduced into:
Réunion
Brachypodium flexum Nees appears in other Kew resources:
| Date | Reference | Identified As | Barcode | Type Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 1998 | Cable, S. [3087], Cameroon | K000339497 | ||
| Feb 19, 1974 | Gilbert, M.G. [3300], Ethiopia | K001268419 | ||
| Feb 17, 1974 | Gilbert, M.G. [3235], Ethiopia | K001268418 | ||
| Nov 19, 1972 | Friis, I. [1237], Ethiopia | K001268416 | ||
| Nov 4, 1971 | Thullin, M. [1606], Ethiopia | K001268422 | ||
| Feb 11, 1971 | Edwards, S. [54], Ethiopia | K001268423 | ||
| Dec 31, 1965 | de Wilde, W. [9489], Ethiopia | K001268421 | ||
| Drege [s.n.], South Africa | K000367327 | |||
| Buchanan [61], South Africa | K000367328 | |||
| Buchanan [104], South Africa | K000367329 | |||
| Buchanan [198], South Africa | K000367330 | |||
| Buchanan [233], South Africa | K000367332 | |||
| Schimper [674], Ethiopia | K000367337 | isotype | ||
| Wolley-Dod, A.H. [2385], South Africa | K000367331 | |||
| Buchanan [233], South Africa | K000367333 | |||
| Buchanan [79], South Africa | K000367334 |
First published in Fl. Afr. Austral. Ill.: 456 (1841)
Accepted by
- Aedo, C., Tellería, M.T. & Velayos, M. (eds.) (1999). Bases Documentales para la Flora de Guinea Ecuatorial; Plantas vascularis y hongos: 1-414. CSIC, real jardín Botánico, Madrid.
- Bosser, J. & Renvoize, S.A. (2018). Flore des Mascareignes 203: 1-276. IRD Éditions, MSIRI, RBG-Kew, Paris.
- Clayton, W.D. (1970). Gramineae Flora of Tropical East Africa 1: 1-176.
- Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. & Williamson, H. (2006). World Grass Species - Synonymy database The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Cope, T.A., Knees, S.G. & Miller, A.G. (2007). Flora of the Arabian peninsula and Socotra 5(1): 1-387. Edinburgh University Press.
- Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Exell, A.W. (1973). Angiosperms of the islands of the gulf of Guinea (Fernando Po, Príncipe, S.Tomé, and Annobon) Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Botany 4: 325-411.
- Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
- Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds.) (2003). Plants of Southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14.: i-vi, 1-1231. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
- Hedberg, I. & Edwards, S. (eds.) (1995). Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea 7: 1-430. The National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia & The Department of Systematic Botany, Upps.
- Hepper, F.N. (ed.) (1972). Flora of West Tropical Africa, ed. 2, 3(2): 277-574.
- Launert, E. (1971). Flora Zambesiaca 10(1): 1-152. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Ndabaneze, P. (1989). Catalogue des Graminées du Burundi Lejeunia; Revue de Botanique, n.s., 132: 1-127.
- Troupin, G. (ed.) (1988). Flora du Rwanda 4: I-X, 1-651. Musee Royal de l'Afrique Centrale.
Literature
Flora of West Tropical Africa
- Fl. Afr. Austr. 1: 456 (1841).
Kew Backbone Distributions
- Bosser, J. & Renvoize, S.A. (2018). Flore des Mascareignes 203: 1-276. IRD Éditions, MSIRI, RBG-Kew, Paris.
- Clayton, W.D. (1970). Gramineae Flora of Tropical East Africa 1: 1-176.
- Cope, T.A., Knees, S.G. & Miller, A.G. (2007). Flora of the Arabian peninsula and Socotra 5(1): 1-387. Edinburgh University Press.
- Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
- Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds.) (2003). Plants of Southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14.: i-vi, 1-1231. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
- Hedberg, I. & Edwards, S. (eds.) (1995). Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea 7: 1-430. The National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia & The Department of Systematic Botany, Upps.
- Hepper, F.N. (ed.) (1972). Flora of West Tropical Africa, ed. 2, 3(2): 277-574.
- Launert, E. (1971). Flora Zambesiaca 10(1): 1-152. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Ndabaneze, P. (1989). Catalogue des Graminées du Burundi Lejeunia; Revue de Botanique, n.s., 132: 1-127.
- Troupin, G. (ed.) (1988). Flora du Rwanda 4: I-X, 1-651. Musee Royal de l'Afrique Centrale.
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- A.V. Bogdan, A Revised List of Kenya Grasses p. 14 (1958).
- D.M. Napper, Grasses of Tanganyika: 15 (1965).
- Eggeling, Ann. list grasses Ug.: 8 (1947).
- Jackson & Wiehe, Ann. list Nyasaland grasses: 32 (1958).
- K.W. Harker & D.M. Napper, An Illustrated Guide to the Grasses of Uganda p. 20 (1960).
- Nees, Fl. Afr. Austr. 1: 456 (1841).
Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
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
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
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 Selected Plant Families 2021. 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 2021. 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