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  1. Family: Poaceae Barnhart
    1. Genus: Cenchrus L.

      1. Cenchrus mildbraedii (Mez) Morrone

        This species is accepted, and its native range is E. Central Tropical Africa.

    [GB]
    Habit
    Perennial; caespitose. Rhizomes elongated. Butt sheaths pilose. Culms erect; 45-120 cm long. Ligule a fringe of hairs. Leaf-blades flat, or convolute; 10-40 cm long; 3-10 mm wide. Leaf-blade apex acute.
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle spiciform; linear; 6-17 cm long. Primary panicle branches accrescent to a central axis; with lateral stumps on axis. Panicle axis with rounded ribs; smooth; glabrous; bearing deciduous spikelet clusters. Spikelets subtended by an involucre. Fertile spikelets sessile; 1 in the cluster. Involucre composed of bristles; oblong; 2-8 mm long; base obtuse. Involucral bristles deciduous with the fertile spikelets; numerous; with one conspicuously longer bristle; 4-10 mm long; terete; flexible; glabrous.
    Spikelets
    Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; dorsally compressed; acute; 3.5-4.5 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures.
    Fertile
    Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; dorsally compressed; acute; 3.5-4.5 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures.
    Glume
    Glumes one the lower absent or obscure, or two; similar; shorter than spikelet; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume oblate; 0-0.5 mm long; 0-0.1 length of spikelet; hyaline; without keels; 0 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex truncate. Upper glume ovate; 0.1-0.15 length of spikelet; hyaline; without keels; 0-1 -veined. Upper glume primary vein absent, or distinct. Upper glume lateral veins absent. Upper glume apex obtuse, or acute.
    Florets
    Basal sterile florets barren; without significant palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret oblong; 0.5-0.66 length of spikelet; membranous; 1-3 -veined; smooth, or scaberulous; rough above; acute, or acuminate. Fertile lemma ovate; 3-4 mm long; membranous; without keel; 5 -veined. Lemma surface scaberulous; rough above. Lemma margins flat. Lemma apex acute. Palea 1.1 length of lemma; membranous.
    Flowers
    Lodicules absent. Anthers 3; 1.5-2.5 mm long; anther tip smooth. Styles free to the base, or connate below.
    Distribution
    Africa: west-central tropical and east tropical.
    Reference
    Paniceae. FTEA.
    [FTEA]

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

    Habit
    Coarse densely caespitose perennial with rhizomes; culms 45–120 cm. high, erect.
    Leaves
    Leaf-blades linear, 10–40 cm. long, 3–10 mm. wide, flat or convolute, tapering to an acute tip; basal sheaths loosely pilose, at least when young.
    Inflorescences
    Panicle linear, 6–17 cm. long; rhachis cylindrical, with rounded ribs and distinct peduncle-stumps, scaberulous; involucre enclosing 1 subsessile spikelet, stipeless but not truncate at the base; bristles glabrous, the longest 4–10 mm.
    Spikelets
    Spikelets elliptic-lanceolate, 3.5–4.5 mm. long, acute; lower glume suppressed or up to 0.5 mm.; upper glume up to 1/6 the length of the spikelet, acute to obtuse; lower lemma barren, 1/3–2/3 the length of the spikelet, acute to acuminate; upper lemma acute, slightly shorter than the spikelet, being overtopped by the palea; anther-tips smooth.
    Habitat
    Wet or low-lying places in mountain grassland or bamboo; 2300–2600 m.
    Distribution
    U2

    Images

    Distribution

    Native to:

    Rwanda, Uganda, Zaïre

    Cenchrus mildbraedii (Mez) Morrone appears in other Kew resources:

    Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
    May 1, 1932 Burtt, B.D. [2925], Uganda Pennisetum mildbraedii K000281220
    May 1, 1932 Snowden, J.D. [1458], Uganda Pennisetum mildbraedii K000281221 Unknown type material

    First published in Ann. Bot. (Oxford) 106: 128 (2010)

    Literature

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    • Clayton, W.D. & Renvoize, S.A. (1982). Gramineae Flora of Tropical East Africa 3: 451-898.
    • Robyns, W. (1934). Flore Agrostologique du Congo Belge et du Ruanda-Urundi 2: 9-386. Goemaere, Bruxelles.

    Sources

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    Flora of Tropical East 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 2019. 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 2019. 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