Poaceae
Eragrostis

Eragrostis mariae Launert

First published in Bol. Soc. Brot., sér. 2, 35: 16 (1961)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Zambia. It is a perennial and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Morphology General Habit
Perennial; caespitose. Culms erect, or geniculately ascending; 25-50 cm long; 3-5 -noded. Culm-internodes 4-10 cm long. Lateral branches lacking. Leaf-sheaths glabrous on surface, or pubescent. Leaf-sheath oral hairs bearded. Ligule a fringe of hairs. Leaf-blades flexuous; conduplicate, or involute; 6-15 cm long; 1-2 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface scaberulous; rough adaxially; glabrous, or pilose; sparsely hairy.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle open; elliptic to ovate; 10-15 cm long; 4-8 cm wide. Panicle axis scaberulous. Panicle branches scaberulous. Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled. Pedicels filiform; 1.5-5 mm long; scaberulous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets comprising 5-16 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets elliptic, or oblong; laterally compressed; 4-10 mm long; 2.5-3 mm wide; breaking up at maturity; rhachilla persistent; shedding paleas.
Fertile
Spikelets comprising 5-16 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets elliptic, or oblong; laterally compressed; 4-10 mm long; 2.5-3 mm wide; breaking up at maturity; rhachilla persistent; shedding paleas.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
Glumes deciduous; similar; shorter than spikelet. Lower glume lanceolate; 2.2-2.5 mm long; 0.75 length of upper glume; membranous; 1-keeled; 1 -veined. Lower glume primary vein scaberulous. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume lanceolate; 3 mm long; 1.3 length of adjacent fertile lemma; membranous; 1-keeled; 1 -veined. Upper glume primary vein scaberulous. Upper glume lateral veins absent. Upper glume apex acute.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Fertile lemma lanceolate, or elliptic; 2.25 mm long; membranous; keeled; 3 -veined. Lemma midvein scaberulous. Lemma lateral veins excurrent. Lemma surface scaberulous; rough on veins. Lemma apex dentate; 3 -fid; acute. Palea 1.8-2 mm long. Palea keels ciliolate; with hairs 0.4 mm long. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Lodicules 2; cuneate; fleshy. Anthers 3; 1.25 mm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Caryopsis with adherent pericarp.
Distribution
Africa: southern tropical.
Reference
Eragrostideae. Launert 1993.
[GB]

Gramineae, T. Cope. Flora Zambesiaca 10:2. 1999

Morphology General Habit
Densely caespitose perennial without rhizomes or stolons; culms up to 65 cm tall, erect or ascending, unbranched, glabrous at the nodes, eglandular; basal leaf sheaths glabrous or thinly pilose, chartaceous, terete, eglandular, persistent; ligule a line of hairs; leaf laminas 4–20 cm × 1–3 mm, linear, folded or involute, rarely flat, glabrous or thinly pilose above, eglandular.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Panicle 10–20 cm long, ovate-oblong or elliptic, open, the spikelets evenly distributed or ± condensed about the primary branches, on pedicels 1.5–5 mm long, the primary branches not in whorls, terminating in a fertile spikelet, glabrous or loosely pilose in the axils, eglandular.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets 4–10 × 2.5–3 mm, oblong to ovate-oblong or elliptic, strongly laterally compressed, 5–16-flowered, the florets disarticulating from below upwards, the rhachilla persistent; glumes subequal, 2.2–3 mm long, reaching nearly to the apex of the adjacent lemmas, keeled, lanceolate in profile, glabrous on the flanks, scaberulous on the keel, acute at the apex; lemmas 2.1–2.3 mm long, keeled, oblong-lanceolate to narrowly elliptic in profile, membranous with distinct lateral nerves, slightly diverging from the rhachilla, those in opposite rows not imbricate, the rhachilla visible between them, pallid or green, suffused with purple, glabrous on the flanks, scaberulous on the nerves, obtuse and shallowly tridenticulate at the apex; palea deciduous with the lemma, glabrous on the flanks, the keels slender, wingless, softly ciliolate, the cilia sometimes protruding from the sides of the lemma; anthers 3, 0.9–1.3 mm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Caryopsis c. 1.2 mm long, narrowly elliptic.
[FZ]

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: threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

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

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • 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