Poaceae
Digitaria

Digitaria tenuis (Nees) Henrard

First published in Blumea 1: 99 (1934)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is St. Thomas, N. South America to NE. Brazil. It is a perennial and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Morphology General Habit
Perennial; caespitose. Culms 50 cm long. Culm-internodes distally glabrous. Leaves cauline. Leaf-sheaths pubescent. Ligule a ciliolate membrane; 2-2.5 mm long; erose. Leaf-blades 6-13 cm long; 4-7 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface pubescent; densely hairy.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence composed of racemes. Peduncle 8-15 cm long; glabrous. Racemes 4-13; digitate; unilateral; 5-12 cm long. Central inflorescence axis 1-3 cm long. Rhachis angular; scabrous on margins. Spikelets appressed; in pairs. Fertile spikelets pedicelled. Pedicels unequal; 1-3 mm long; scabrous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; dorsally compressed; 2.7-3.3 mm long; with hairs extending 1-2 mm beyond apex; falling entire.
Fertile
Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; dorsally compressed; 2.7-3.3 mm long; with hairs extending 1-2 mm beyond apex; falling entire.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
Glumes two; shorter than spikelet; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume ovate; 0.3-0.5 mm long; 0.1 length of spikelet; 0 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Upper glume lanceolate; 1.8-2 mm long; 0.66 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 3-5 -veined. Upper glume surface pilose. Upper glume hairs white, or tawny. Upper glume apex acute.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Basal sterile florets barren; without significant palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret lanceolate; 1 length of spikelet; membranous; 7-9 -veined; villous; acute. Fertile lemma lanceolate; 2-2.6 mm long; cartilaginous; much thinner on margins; light brown; without keel. Lemma surface granulose. Lemma margins flat; covering most of palea. Lemma apex acute. Palea cartilaginous.
Distribution
South America: northern South America and Brazil.
Reference
Paniceae. Fl Guiana 1995.
[GB]

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]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

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

  • 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