Poaceae
Eragrostis

Eragrostis plurigluma C.E.Hubb.

First published in Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1934: 116 (1934)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is W. Tropical Africa to Zambia. It is a perennial and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Morphology General Habit
Perennial; caespitose. Culms erect; 60-100 cm long. Ligule a fringe of hairs. Leaf-blades involute, or convolute; 25-45 cm long; 1-2.5 mm wide.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle open; oblong; effuse; 10-30 cm long. Panicle branches capillary; flexuous; scaberulous. Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled. Pedicels filiform.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets comprising 3-5 basal sterile florets; 8-14 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets elliptic, or oblong; laterally compressed; 6-7.5 mm long; 3.8-4.5 mm wide; breaking up at maturity; rhachilla persistent; shedding paleas. Rhachilla internodes obscured by lemmas.
Fertile
Spikelets comprising 3-5 basal sterile florets; 8-14 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets elliptic, or oblong; laterally compressed; 6-7.5 mm long; 3.8-4.5 mm wide; breaking up at maturity; rhachilla persistent; shedding paleas. Rhachilla internodes obscured by lemmas.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
Glumes deciduous; similar; shorter than spikelet. Lower glume ovate; 1.2-1.6 mm long; 1 length of upper glume; 1-keeled; 1 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume ovate; 1.2-1.6 mm long; 0.5 length of adjacent fertile lemma; 1-keeled; 1 -veined. Upper glume lateral veins absent. Upper glume apex acute.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Basal sterile florets similar; barren; without significant palea; separately deciduous. Lemma of lower sterile floret similar to upper glume. Fertile florets divergent; imbricate to tip. Fertile lemma ovate; 3 mm long; chartaceous; keeled; 3 -veined. Lemma apex obtuse. Palea keels ciliate. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Anthers 3; 1.4 mm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; oblong; isodiametric; 1 mm long.
Distribution
Africa: west tropical, west-central tropical, and southern tropical.
Reference
Eragrostideae. FWTA.
Diagnostic
Palea hairs 0.2-0.4mm.
[GB]

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

Morphology General Habit
Densely caespitose perennial without rhizomes or stolons; culms up to 120 cm tall, erect, unbranched, glabrous at the nodes, eglandular; basal leaf sheaths glabrous, chartaceous, compressed and keeled, eglandular, persistent; ligule a line of hairs; leaf laminas 10–45 cm × 1.5–2.5 mm, tightly involute or convolute and filiform, glabrous, eglandular.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Panicle 7–27 cm long, oblong or ovate-oblong, lax and sometimes nodding, the spikelets evenly distributed on filiform pedicels 4–20 mm long, the slender primary branches not in whorls, terminating in a fertile spikelet, glabrous in the axils, eglandular.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets 4–7.5 × 3–4.5 mm, broadly elliptic to broadly oblong- or ovate-elliptic, strongly laterally compressed, 7–14-flowered, the florets disarticulating from below upwards, the rhachilla persistent; glumes unequal, keeled, acute at the apex, the inferior 1.2–1.6 mm long, lanceolate in profile, the superior c. 2 mm long, narrowly ovate in profile; lowermost 3–5(6) lemmas barren and without a palea, progressively longer, broader and blunter than the glumes, the lowermost 1–3-nerved; fertile lemmas 2–3 mm long, keeled, oblong to ovate-oblong in profile, firmly membranous with distinct lateral nerves, diverging from the rhachilla at nearly 90°, but those in opposite rows imbricate and concealing the rhachilla, light green tinged with leaden-grey or purple, glabrous, subacute to obtuse at the apex; palea deciduous with the lemma, glabrous on the flanks, the keels slender, wingless, ciliolate with hairs c. 0.2 mm long, these not protruding from the sides of the lemma; anthers 3, 0.8–1.4 mm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Caryopsis 0.7–1 mm long, narrowly oblong.
[FZ]

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

Morphology General Habit
Tufted perennial about 1 m. high
Morphology Leaves
Rolled leaf-blades
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Delicate open panicle
Ecology
Moist soils.
[FWTA]

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]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/136643017/136643031

Conservation
LC - least concern
[IUCN]

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

  • 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

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. 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 2026. 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