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  1. Family: Poaceae Barnhart
    1. Genus: Oxyrhachis Pilg.

      1. Oxyrhachis gracillima (Baker) C.E.Hubb.

        This species is accepted, and its native range is Sierra Leone, Nigeria to Cameroon, Tanzania to S. Africa, Madagascar.

    [GB]
    Habit
    Perennial; caespitose. Culms erect; 20-60 cm long. Ligule a ciliolate membrane. Leaf-blades filiform; 5-30 cm long; 1 mm wide.
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescence composed of racemes. Racemes 1; single; erect; smoothly terete; bilateral; 5-16 cm long. Rhachis fragile at the nodes; subcylindrical and excavated; 1 mm wide. Spikelet packing abaxial. Rhachis internodes oblong; 5-10 mm long. Rhachis internode tip oblique. Spikelets sunken; solitary. Fertile spikelets sessile.
    Spikelets
    Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; dorsally compressed; 3-6 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures. Spikelet callus square; 0.5-1 mm long; glabrous; base obtuse; attached obliquely.
    Fertile
    Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; dorsally compressed; 3-6 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures. Spikelet callus square; 0.5-1 mm long; glabrous; base obtuse; attached obliquely.
    Glume
    Glumes dissimilar; reaching apex of florets; firmer than fertile lemma. Lower glume lanceolate; 1 length of upper glume; 1 length of spikelet; coriaceous; purple; without keels; 6-7 -veined. Lower glume apex obtuse. Upper glume oblong; chartaceous.
    Florets
    Basal sterile florets barren; without significant palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret similar to upper glume; oblong; 2.5-3.8 mm long; 0.75 length of spikelet; hyaline; 0-2 -veined. Fertile lemma oblong; 2.5-3.5 mm long; hyaline; without keel; 2 -veined. Lemma apex truncate. Palea present, or absent or minute; 0-0.2 length of lemma; without keels.
    Distribution
    Africa: west tropical, west-central tropical, east tropical, southern tropical, south, and western Indian ocean.
    Reference
    Andropogoneae. FTEA.
    [FWTA]

    Gramineae, W. D. Clayton. Flora of West Tropical Africa 3:2. 1972

    Habit
    Caespitose perennial with filiform leaves
    Ecology
    Marshy soils.
    [FTEA]

    Gramineae, W. D. Clayton, S. M. Phillips & S. A. Renvoize. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1974

    Habit
    Densely tufted perennial; culms 20–60 cm. high.
    Leaves
    Leaf-blades filiform, 5–30 cm. long.
    Inflorescences
    Spikes 5–16 cm. long, slender, long-exserted, purplish.
    Spikelets
    Spikelet narrowly lanceolate, embedded in the internode; lower glume 3–6 mm. long, obtuse.
    Figures
    Fig. 204.
    Habitat
    Upland bogs; 2000–2300 m.
    Distribution
    T7
    [FZ]

    Gramineae, T. A. Cope. Flora Zambesiaca 10:4. 2002

    Habit
    Densely caespitose perennial; culms up to 60 cm high.
    Leaf lamina
    Leaf laminas 5–30 cm long, filiform.
    Inflorescences
    Racemes 5–16 cm long, slender, long-exserted, purplish.
    Spikelets
    Spikelet narrowly lanceolate, embedded in the internode; inferior glume 3–6 mm long, obtuse at the apex.

    Images

    Distribution

    Native to:

    Cameroon, Cape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Zambia

    Oxyrhachis gracillima (Baker) C.E.Hubb. appears in other Kew resources:

    Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
    Nov 1, 1966 Jaeger [9485], Sierra Leone K000290832 isotype

    First published in Hooker's Icon. Pl. 35: t. 3454 (1947)

    Accepted by

    • Onana, J.M. (2011). The vascular plants of Cameroon a taxonomic checklist with IUCN assessments: 1-195. National herbarium of Cameroon, Yaoundé.
    • Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. & Williamson, H. (2006). World Grass Species - Synonymy database The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
    • Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds.) (2003). Plants of Southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14.: i-vi, 1-1231. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
    • Cope, T.A. (2002). Flora Zambesiaca 10(4): 1-190. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
    • Clayton, W.D. & Renvoize, S.A. (1982). Gramineae Flora of Tropical East Africa 3: 451-898.
    • Hepper, F.N. (ed.) (1972). Flora of West Tropical Africa, ed. 2, 3(2): 277-574.
    • Bosser, J. (1969). Gramiées des pasturages et des cultures a Madagascar: 1-440. ORSTOM, Paris.

    Literature

    Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • incl. subsp. occidentalis Gledhill in Bol. Soc. Brot. 41: 61 (1967).
    • in Hook., Ic. Pl. t. 3454 (1947)
    Kew Backbone Distributions
    • Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds.) (2003). Plants of Southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14.: i-vi, 1-1231. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
    • Cope, T.A. (2002). Flora Zambesiaca 10(4): 1-190. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
    • Hepper, F.N. (ed.) (1972). Flora of West Tropical Africa, ed. 2, 3(2): 277-574.
    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • Clayton in Flora of West Tropical Africa, ed. 2, 3: 506 (1972).
    • D.M. Napper, Grasses of Tanganyika: 112 (1965).
    • C.E. Hubbard in Hook., Ic. Pl. 35, t. 3454 (1947).

    Sources

    Flora Zambesiaca
    Flora Zambesiaca
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Flora of West Tropical Africa
    Flora of West Tropical Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
    'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2020. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

    Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2020. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0