| Home | > | List of families | > | Poaceae | > | Schizachyrium | > | jeffreysii |
| Synonyms: |
Andropogon arthropogon Pilg. Andropogon jeffreysii Hack. Schizachyrium ursulum Stapf |
| Common names: | Silky autumn grass (English) |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: |
Loosely caespitose, wiry, rhizomatous perennial, tinged with reddish-orange; culms up to 120 cm high, branched; internodes terete. Leaf sheaths shorter than the internodes, occasionally pubescent towards the top; laminas 11–23 cm × 2.5–4 mm, tapering to a fine point. Racemes 4–8 cm long, silvery or yellowish with usually dense long hairs 4–5.5 mm long on the internodes, pedicels and inferior glumes, exserted from the linear spatheole, occasionally long-exserted; peduncles longer than the racemes; internodes and pedicels flattened, narrow at the base (0.3 mm). Sessile spikelet 7–9 mm long, 1/3–1/2 as long again as the pedicel, narrowly ovoid, somewhat laterally compressed, pointed at the base; inferior glume slightly convex; superior lemma linear, bifid in the upper 1/2–2/3; awn dorsal, 13–22 mm long; anthers 2.5–4 mm long. Pedicelled spikelet male or sterile, 5–7.4 mm long, similar to the sessile spikelet and with an awn 1–3.5 mm long. |
| Notes: | |
| Derivation of specific name: | |
| Habitat: | In open woodland, shrubland and grassland, rocky outcrops and dambos |
| Flowering time: | |
| Worldwide distribution: | Southern tropical Africa |
| Botswana distribution: | N,SE |
| Growth form(s): | |
| Endemic status: | |
| Red data list status: | |
| Insects associated with this species: | |
| Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
| Literature: |
Chapano, C. & Mugarisanwa, N.H. (2003). Plants of the Matobo District National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, Zimbabwe Page 32. Cope, T.A. (2002). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(4) Pages 86 - 87. Heath, A. & Heath, R. (2009). Field Guide to the Plants of Northern Botswana including the Okavango Delta Kew Publishing Page 462. (Includes a picture). Jackson, G. & Wiehe, P.O. (1958). An Annotated Check List of Nyasaland Grasses The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland Page 57. Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 109. Roodt, V. (2015). Grasses & Grazers of Botswana and the surrounding savanna Struik Nature, South Africa Pages 174 - 175. (Includes a picture). Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 144. |
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