Leptagrostis C.E. Hubb.
Habit, vegetative morphology. Perennial; caespitose. Culms 22 cm high (slender); herbaceous; unbranched above. Plants unarmed. Leaves non-auriculate. Leaf blades narrow; 2–6 mm wide (10–25 cm long); setaceous at the tip; without cross venation; a fringe of hairs.
Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual, with bisexual spikelets; with hermaphrodite florets.
Inflorescence. Inflorescence paniculate; contracted (narrow, 5–12.5 cm long); with capillary branchlets; espatheate; not comprising ‘partial inflorescences’ and foliar organs. Spikelet-bearing axes persistent. Spikelets not secund; shortly pedicellate.
Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets 3.5–4 mm long; purple-tinged; compressed laterally; disarticulating above the glumes. Rachilla prolonged beyond the uppermost female-fertile floret; hairy, or hairless; the rachilla extension naked. Hairy callus present. The callus hairs white (to 3.5 mm long, half as long as the lemma). Callus blunt.
Glumes two; very unequal (G1 shorter); (the upper) long relative to the adjacent lemmas (the lower half as long); hairless; pointed; awnless; keeled above; similar (lanceolate, acuminate, thinly membranous). Lower glume 1 nerved. Upper glume 3 nerved. Spikelets with female-fertile florets only; without proximal incomplete florets.
Female-fertile florets 1. Lemmas broadly lanceolate, flattened; similar in texture to the glumes (thinly membranous); not becoming indurated; entire, or incised; when entire, pointed (acuminate into the awn); when incised 2 lobed; when incised, not deeply cleft (bidenticulate); awned. Awns 1; median; from a sinus (i.e., from between minute teeth), or apical; non-geniculate; straight; much shorter than the body of the lemma (little more than 1 mm long); entered by one vein. Lemmas hairless; glabrous; non-carinate (dorsally rounded); 3–5 nerved. Palea present; relatively long; awnless, without apical setae (apically ciliolate); not indurated (membranous); 2-nerved. Lodicules present; 2; free; membranous; glabrous. Stamens 3. Anthers 1.5 mm long. Ovary glabrous. Styles free to their bases. Stigmas 2.
Taxonomy. Pooideae (?); Poodae (?); Aveneae (?).
Distribution, ecology, phytogeography. 1 species; Abyssinia.
Paleotropical. African. Sudano-Angolan. Somalo-Ethiopian.
References, etc. Morphological/taxonomic: Hubbard 1939b.
Special comments. Description hopelessly inadequate for reliable classificatory assignment. Fruit data wanting. Anatomical data wanting.
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).