Family:
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus:
Setaria P.Beauv.

Setaria obtusifolia (Delile) Morrone

This species is accepted, and its native range is N. Africa, Kenya to S. Africa.

[FZ]

Gramineae, W. D. Clayton. Flora Zambesiaca 10:3. 1989

Morphology General Habit
Like P. geminatum but leaf laminae broadly obtuse to acute, spikelets 3–4 mm. long and glumes shorter, the superior up to 1/2 length of spikelet.

[GB]
Morphology General Habit
Perennial; mat forming. Rhizomes elongated; spongy. Culms prostrate; 30-60 cm long; spongy; rooting from lower nodes. Ligule a fringe of hairs. Leaf-blades flat, or conduplicate; 3-20 cm long; 4-12 mm wide. Leaf-blade apex obtuse, or abruptly acute.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence composed of racemes. Racemes borne along a central axis; unilateral; 1-3 cm long. Central inflorescence axis 10-30 cm long; flattened. Rhachis broadly winged; with sharp-edged midrib; 1-3 mm wide; terminating in a barren extension; extension flattened. Spikelet packing abaxial; crowded; regular; 2 -rowed. Spikelets appressed; solitary. Fertile spikelets sessile.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets ovate; dorsally compressed; 3-4 mm long; falling entire.
Fertile
Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets ovate; dorsally compressed; 3-4 mm long; falling entire.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
Glumes dissimilar; shorter than spikelet; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume orbicular; 0.1-0.25 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 0-5 -veined. Lower glume apex truncate. Upper glume elliptic; 0.33-0.5 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 5 -veined. Upper glume apex obtuse, or acute.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Basal sterile florets male; with palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret similar to upper glume; elliptic; 1 length of spikelet; membranous; 5 -veined; obtuse, or acute. Fertile lemma elliptic; 3-4 mm long; indurate; without keel. Lemma surface granulose. Lemma margins involute. Palea reflexed at apex; indurate.
Distribution
Africa: north, east tropical, southern tropical, and south.
Reference
Paniceae. FTEA.

[FTEA]

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

Morphology General Habit
Perennial, with creeping or floating spongy rhizomes; culms 30–60 cm. high, prostrate and rooting at the nodes below.
Morphology Leaves
Leaf-blades 3–20 cm. long, 4–12 mm. wide, flat or folded, broadly obtuse to bluntly acute.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence 10–30 cm. long; racemes 1–3 cm. long, their rhachis winged and 1–3 mm. wide.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelet narrowly ovate, 3–4 mm. long; lower glume truncate, 1/8–1/4 the length of the spikelet; upper glume 1/3–1/2 the length of the spikelet; lower floret with a palea, its lemma as long as the spikelet; upper lemma granulose.
Habitat
Marshy soils or shallow water; 0–1100 m.
Distribution
K7 T4 T5 T6 southward to South Africa

Native to:

Algeria, Botswana, Egypt, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Northern Provinces, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Setaria obtusifolia (Delile) Morrone appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Letourneux, A. [s.n.], Algeria Panicum obtusifolium K000244632 Yes
Trapnell, G. [1086], Zambia Paspalidium obtusifolium K000281849 holotype Yes
Durieu [s.n.], Algeria Paspalidium obtusifolium K000244631 Yes

First published in Syst. Bot. Monogr. 96: 85 (2014)

Accepted by

  • Govaerts, R., Nic Lughadha, E., Black, N., Turner, R. & Paton, A. (2021). The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00997-6 Scientific Data 8: 215.

Literature

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Brunel, J.F., Hiepo, P. & Scholz, H. (eds.) (1984). Flore Analytique du Togo Phanérogames: 1-751. GTZ, Eschborn.
  • Clayton, W.D. & Renvoize, S.A. (1982). Gramineae Flora of Tropical East Africa 3: 451-898.
  • Clayton, W.D. (1989). Flora Zambesiaca 10(3): 1-231. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Dobignard, D. & Chatelain, C. (2010). Index synonymique de la flore d'Afrique du nord 1: 1-455. Éditions des conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Genève.
  • Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds.) (2003). Plants of Southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14.: i-vi, 1-1231. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.

  • 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

  • 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

  • Plants and People Africa

    Common Names from Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com/
    © Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/