Gilgiochloa Pilger
Habit, vegetative morphology. Annual. Culms 30–90 cm high; herbaceous. Culm nodes hairy. Plants unarmed. Leaf blades lanceolate; narrow; flat; without cross venation; a fringe of hairs.
Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual, with bisexual spikelets; with hermaphrodite florets.
Inflorescence. Inflorescence paniculate; contracted; spicate; espatheate; not comprising ‘partial inflorescences’ and foliar organs. Spikelet-bearing axes persistent. Spikelets pedicellate (the pedicels accrescent to the axes).
Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets morphologically ‘conventional’; 7–10 mm long; purplish; compressed laterally; disarticulating above the glumes; disarticulating between the florets. Rachilla terminated by a female-fertile floret. Hairy callus present. Callus short; blunt.
Glumes two; very unequal; (the upper) long relative to the adjacent lemmas (as long as the spikelet); hairy (the G1 usually sparsely hairy), or hairless (glabrous); pointed; awned (the G1 with a 4–5 mm awn, the G2 pointed or continued into a bristle); thin-membranous. Lower glume 3 nerved. Upper glume 3 nerved. Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets proximal to the female-fertile florets. Spikelets with proximal incomplete florets. The proximal incomplete florets 1; paleate. Palea of the proximal incomplete florets fully developed (becoming conspicuously indurated, thickened between the keels). The proximal incomplete florets sterile. The proximal lemmas awnless (pointed); 5–7 nerved.
Female-fertile florets 1. Lemmas similar in texture to the glumes to decidedly firmer than the glumes (thinly leathery); not becoming indurated; incised; deeply cleft; awned. Awns 3; median and lateral; the median different in form from the laterals; from a sinus; geniculate; much longer than the body of the lemma. The lateral awns shorter than the median (straight). Lemmas hairy. The hairs in tufts (on the lemma margins and at the awn base); in transverse rows. Lemmas non-carinate; 5 nerved. Palea present; relatively long; apically notched; 2-nerved; 2-keeled. Palea keels narrowly winged (the wings terminating in clavate appendages). Lodicules present; 2; free; fleshy; glabrous. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous. Stigmas 2.
Fruit, embryo and seedling. Hilum long-linear.
Abaxial leaf blade epidermis. Costal/intercostal zonation conspicuous. Papillae absent. Mid-intercostal long-cells rectangular; having markedly sinuous walls. Microhairs present; panicoid-type; 58–72 microns long; 3.6–5.4 microns wide at the septum. Microhair total length/width at septum 11.7–17.1. Microhair apical cells 28–36 microns long. Microhair apical cell/total length ratio 0.48–0.52. Stomata common; 25–29 microns long. Subsidiaries dome-shaped and triangular. Guard-cells overlapping to flush with the interstomatals. Intercostal short-cells common (in places); not paired; not silicified. Costal short-cells conspicuously in long rows. Costal silica bodies ‘panicoid-type’; mostly shortish dumb-bell shaped.
Transverse section of leaf blade, physiology. C4; XyMS–. Mesophyll with radiate chlorenchyma; seemingly without ‘circular cells’ (in the material seen). Midrib conspicuous, or not readily distinguishable; with one bundle only. Many of the smallest vascular bundles unaccompanied by sclerenchyma. Sclerenchyma all associated with vascular bundles (rather depauperate).
Taxonomy. Panicoideae; Panicodae; Arundinelleae.
Distribution, ecology, phytogeography. 1 species; East tropical Africa. Mesophytic; species of open habitats. Clearings in thickets and woodland.
Paleotropical. African. Sudano-Angolan. Somalo-Ethiopian and South Tropical African.
References, etc. Morphological/taxonomic: Phipps 1967. Leaf anatomical: this project.
Cite this publication as: Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M. J. (1992 onwards). ‘Grass Genera of the World: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval; including Synonyms, Morphology, Anatomy, Physiology, Phytochemistry, Cytology, Classification, Pathogens, World and Local Distribution, and References.’ http://biodiversity.uno.edu/delta/. Version: 18th August 1999. Dallwitz (1980), Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993 onwards, 1998), and Watson and Dallwitz (1994), and Watson, Dallwitz, and Johnston (1986) should also be cited (see References).