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Eleusine africana
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Photo: Petra Ballings
Old hotel building site, nr Castleburn, Vumba.
Photo: Petra Ballings
Old hotel building site, nr Castleburn, Vumba.
Photo: Petra Ballings
Old hotel building site, nr Castleburn, Vumba.
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| Synonyms: |
Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn. subsp. africana (Kenn.-O'Byrne) Hilu & de Wet Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn. subsp. africana (Kenn.-O'Byrne) S.M. Phillips |
| Common names: | Goose grass (English) Rapoko (English) Tekangwetsi (Setswana) |
| Frequency: | |
| Status: | |
| Description: |
Caespitose annual; culms robust, up to 100 cm tall, erect or geniculately ascending, often branching from the lower nodes; ligule with a definite ciliate fringe; leaf laminas 5–35 cm × 3–6 mm, usually folded.Racemes 3–17, 3.5–15.5 cm × 4–7 mm.Spikelets 4.6–7.8 mm long, elliptic; glumes acute, the inferior 2–3.2(3.9) mm long, often 2–3-nerved, the superior 3–4.7 mm long; lemmas 3.7–4.9 mm long, lanceolate in profile, acute to subacute.Caryopsis 1.2–1.6 mm long, oblong to broadly oblong, the surface uniformly granular and obliquely ridged. |
| Notes: | Robust, tufted annual grass, up to 1 m tall. Inflorescence of 3-17 subdigitate racemes. Spikelets 4.5-8 mm long, elliptic, with acute glume. |
| Derivation of specific name: | africana: African |
| Habitat: | Usually in damp sandy soils beside rivers and dams, and in disturbed ground at roadsides; also in cultivated ground, often as a weed in crops |
| Flowering time: | Mainly Aug - May |
| Worldwide distribution: | Africa, mainly in eastern and southern uplands, and Arabia |
| Botswana distribution: | N,SW,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 15. As Eleusine coracana africana Cope, T.A. (1999). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(2) Pages 158 - 159. 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 103. Roodt, V. (2015). Grasses & Grazers of Botswana and the surrounding savanna Struik Nature, South Africa Pages 90 - 91. as Eleusine coracana africana (Includes a picture). Timberlake, J.R. & Childes, S.L. (2004). Biodiversity of the Four Corners Area: Technical Reviews Volume Two (Chapter 5-15) Appendix 5-1: Plant Checklist Occasional Publications in Biodiversity 15 Page 188. |
Other sources of information about Eleusine africana:
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Flora of Burundi: Eleusine africanaFlora of Caprivi: Eleusine africana
Flora of Malawi: Eleusine africana
Flora of Mozambique: Eleusine africana
Flora of Zambia: Eleusine africana
Flora of Zimbabwe: Eleusine africana
External websites:
African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Eleusine africanaAfrican Plant Database: Eleusine africana
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Eleusine africana
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Eleusine africana
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Eleusine africana
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Eleusine africana
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Eleusine africana
JSTOR Plant Science: Eleusine africana
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Eleusine africana
Plants of the World Online: Eleusine africana
Tropicos: Eleusine africana
Wikipedia: Eleusine africana
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