Nematopoa C.E. Hubb.
From the Greek nema (thread), referring to the filiform inflorescence branches.
Including Triraphis longipes, Crinipes longipes
Habit, vegetative morphology. Perennial; loosely caespitose. Culms herbaceous; unbranched above. Young shoots extravaginal. Leaves non-auriculate. Leaf blades narrow; setaceous (filiform); without cross venation; a fringe of hairs.
Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual, with bisexual spikelets; with hermaphrodite florets. The spikelets all alike in sexuality.
Inflorescence. Inflorescence paniculate; open (ovate, oblong); with capillary branchlets; espatheate; not comprising ‘partial inflorescences’ and foliar organs. Spikelet-bearing axes persistent. Spikelets not secund; pedicellate.
Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets compressed laterally; disarticulating above the glumes; disarticulating between the florets. Rachilla prolonged beyond the uppermost female-fertile floret; hairless (scabridulous); the rachilla extension with incomplete florets. Hairy callus present (densely bearded). Callus short.
Glumes two; very unequal; shorter than the spikelets; shorter than the adjacent lemmas (small); awnless; similar (thinly membranous, hyaline, G1 narrowly lanceolate, G2 broader). Lower glume 0 nerved, or 1 nerved. Upper glume 0 nerved, or 1 nerved. Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets distal to the female-fertile florets. The distal incomplete florets merely underdeveloped. Spikelets without proximal incomplete florets.
Female-fertile florets 4–7. Lemmas similar in texture to the glumes to decidedly firmer than the glumes (membranous); not becoming indurated; incised; 2 lobed (shortly and narrowly bilobed, the lobes commonly mucronulate); not deeply cleft; awned. Awns 1; median; from a sinus; non-geniculate; flexuous (very thin). Lemmas hairy; non-carinate (convex); 3 nerved (the laterals near the margins). Palea present (narrowly oblong); relatively long; entire (obtuse); awnless, without apical setae; not indurated; 2-nerved; 2-keeled. Lodicules present (minute); 2; free; fleshy; glabrous. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous. Styles free to their bases. Stigmas 2; red pigmented.
Fruit, embryo and seedling. Fruit broadly fusiform; not noticeably compressed. Hilum short. Embryo large; not waisted. Endosperm hard.
Abaxial leaf blade epidermis. Costal/intercostal zonation conspicuous. Papillae absent. Mid-intercostal long-cells rectangular; having markedly sinuous walls. Microhairs present; panicoid-type; 34–50 microns long; 5.5–9 microns wide at the septum. Microhair total length/width at septum 5.2–6.9. Microhair apical cells 16–30 microns long. Microhair apical cell/total length ratio 0.45–0.6. Stomata absent or very rare. Intercostal short-cells common; in cork/silica-cell pairs; silicified. Costal short-cells conspicuously in long rows (but the files frequently interrupted by large prickles). Costal silica bodies ‘panicoid-type’, or oryzoid (mostly panicoid type, but a few vertically elongated crosses); nearly all cross shaped; not sharp-pointed.
Taxonomy. Arundinoideae; Danthonieae (?).
Distribution, ecology, phytogeography. 1 species; South Africa. Mesophytic (in moist places).
Paleotropical. African. Sudano-Angolan. South Tropical African.
References, etc. Morphological/taxonomic: Hubbard 1957. Leaf anatomical: this project.
Special comments. Anatomical data epidermal only.
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).