Family:
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus:
Digitaria Haller

Digitaria exilis (Kippist) Stapf

This species is accepted, and its native range is W. Tropical Africa to Cameroon.

[GB]
Morphology General Habit
Annual. Culms erect, or geniculately ascending; 30-80 cm long; 5-8 -noded. Ligule an eciliate membrane. Leaf-blades 5-15 cm long; 3-7 mm wide.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence composed of racemes. Racemes 3-5; digitate; erect; unilateral; 4-15 cm long. Rhachis broadly winged; with rounded midrib; 0.5-1 mm wide. Spikelets in pairs, or in threes, or clustered at each node. Fertile spikelets pedicelled; 2-4 in the cluster. Pedicels terete; unequal; tip discoid.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets elliptic, or oblong; dorsally compressed; acute; 1.7-2 mm long; persistent on plant.
Fertile
Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets elliptic, or oblong; dorsally compressed; acute; 1.7-2 mm long; persistent on plant.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
Glumes one the lower absent or obscure; shorter than spikelet; thinner than fertile lemma. Upper glume oblong; 0.9 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 3-5 -veined. Upper glume surface glabrous. Upper glume apex obtuse.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Basal sterile florets barren; without significant palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret elliptic; 1 length of spikelet; membranous; 7 -veined; ribbed; with equidistant veins, or with unevenly spaced veins; glabrous; obtuse. Fertile lemma elliptic; 1.7-2 mm long; cartilaginous; much thinner on margins; pallid, or grey; without keel; 3 -veined. Lemma margins flat; covering most of palea. Lemma apex acute. Palea cartilaginous.
Distribution
Africa: west tropical and west-central tropical.
Reference
Paniceae. FTA.

Native to:

Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo

Introduced into:

Dominican Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti

Digitaria exilis (Kippist) Stapf appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
Clarke, R., Sierra Leone K000281535
Clarke, R., Sierra Leone K000281536
Clarke, R., Sierra Leone K000281537
Clarke, R., Sierra Leone K000281533
Clarke, R., Sierra Leone K000281534

First published in Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1915: 385 (1915)

Accepted by

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.
  • 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.
  • Catarino, L., Sampaio Martins, E., Pinto-Basto, M.F. & Diniz, M.A. (2006). Plantas Vasculares e Briófitos da Guiné-Bissau: 1-298. Instituto de investigação científica tropical, Instituto Português de apoio ao desenvolvimento.
  • Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. & Williamson, H. (2006). World Grass Species - Synonymy database The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Hepper, F.N. (ed.) (1972). Flora of West Tropical Africa, ed. 2, 3(2): 277-574.
  • Lebrun, J.P. (1973). Énumération des plantes vasculaires du Sénégal: 1-209. Maisons Alfort: Institut d'élevage et de médecine vétérinaire des pays tropicaux.
  • Lisowski, S. (2009). Flore (Angiospermes) de la République de Guinée Scripta Botanica Belgica 41: 1-517.
  • Onana, J.M. (2011). The vascular plants of Cameroon a taxonomic checklist with IUCN assessments: 1-195. National herbarium of Cameroon, Yaoundé.
  • Peyre de Fabregues, B. & Lebrun, J.-P. (1976). Catalogue des Plantes Vascularies du Niger: 1-433. Institut d' Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux, Maisons Alfort.

Literature

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.
  • 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.
  • Catarino, L., Sampaio Martins, E., Pinto-Basto, M.F. & Diniz, M.A. (2006). Plantas Vasculares e Briófitos da Guiné-Bissau: 1-298. Instituto de investigação científica tropical, Instituto Português de apoio ao desenvolvimento.
  • Hepper, F.N. (ed.) (1972). Flora of West Tropical Africa, ed. 2, 3(2): 277-574.
  • Lebrun, J.P. (1973). Énumération des plantes vasculaires du Sénégal: 1-209. Maisons Alfort: Institut d'élevage et de médecine vétérinaire des pays tropicaux.
  • Onana, J.M. (2011). The vascular plants of Cameroon a taxonomic checklist with IUCN assessments: 1-195. National herbarium of Cameroon, Yaoundé.
  • Peyre de Fabregues, B. & Lebrun, J.-P. (1976). Catalogue des Plantes Vascularies du Niger: 1-433. Institut d' Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux, Maisons Alfort.

  • 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 2022. 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 2022. 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