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

      1. Cenchrus stramineus (Peter) Morrone

        This species is accepted, and its native range is Ethiopia to Tanzania, Arabian Peninsula.

    [GB]
    Habit
    Perennial; caespitose. Culms geniculately ascending; 30-120 cm long; wiry. Lateral branches suffrutescent. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 0.5-1.5 mm long; lacerate. Leaf-blades 3-15 cm long; 2-9 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface glabrous, or pubescent. Leaf-blade apex attenuate; filiform.
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle spiciform; linear; 2-15 cm long. Primary panicle branches accrescent to a central axis; with lateral stumps on axis. Panicle axis with rounded ribs; smooth, or scaberulous; glabrous; bearing deciduous spikelet clusters. Spikelets subtended by an involucre. Fertile spikelets sessile; 1-2 in the cluster. Involucre composed of bristles; oblong; 7-12 mm long; base obtuse. Involucral bristles deciduous with the fertile spikelets; numerous; with longest bristle scarcely emergent; 7-12 mm long; terete; flexible; glabrous.
    Spikelets
    Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; dorsally compressed; acuminate; 5-5.5 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; acuminate; 5-5.5 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures.
    Glume
    Glumes dissimilar; shorter than spikelet; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume elliptic; 0.1-0.25 length of spikelet; hyaline; without keels; 0-1 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex obtuse. Upper glume elliptic, or ovate; 0.33-0.66 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 1-3 -veined. Upper glume apex obtuse, or acute.
    Florets
    Basal sterile florets male; with palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret oblong; 1 length of spikelet; membranous; 5-7 -veined; scaberulous; rough above; acuminate. Fertile lemma elliptic; 5-5.5 mm long; membranous; without keel; 5 -veined. Lemma margins flat. Lemma apex acuminate. Palea membranous.
    Flowers
    Lodicules absent. Anthers 3; 1.5-2 mm long; anther tip smooth. Styles free to the base.
    Distribution
    Africa: northeast tropical and east tropical. Asia-temperate: Arabia.
    Reference
    Paniceae. FTEA.
    [FTEA]

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

    Habit
    Shrubby tufted perennial; culms 30–120 cm. high, hard, wiry, much branched, ascending.
    Leaves
    Leaf-blades linear, 3–15 cm. long, 2–9 mm. wide, glabrous or finely pubescent, tapering to a filiform tip; ligule membranous, 0.5–1.5 mm. long, finely lacerate.
    Inflorescences
    Panicle linear, 2–15 cm. long, silvery; rhachis with ± rounded ribs and short peduncle-stumps, glabrous or scaberulous; involucre enclosing 1–2 sessile spikelets, without a distinct stipe; bristles glabrous, the longest 7–12 mm.
    Spikelets
    Spikelets oblong-lanceolate, 4–5.5 mm. long, acuminate; lower glume up to 1/4 the length of the spikelet, rarely more; upper glume 1/3–2/3 the length of the spikelet; lower lemma as long as the spikelet, ♂; upper lemma similar in texture but a little shorter.
    Habitat
    Deciduous bushland (typically Acacia-Commiphora), sometimes among rocks but mainly on black clays or heavy volcanic soils; 1000–2500 m.
    Distribution
    K1 K3 K4 K6 T1 T2

    Distribution

    Native to:

    Ethiopia, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tanzania, Yemen

    Cenchrus stramineus (Peter) Morrone appears in other Kew resources:

    First published in Ann. Bot. (Oxford) 106: 129 (2010)

    Literature

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    • Cope, T.A., Knees, S.G. & Miller, A.G. (2007). Flora of the Arabian peninsula and Socotra 5(1): 1-387. Edinburgh University Press.
    • Hedberg, I. & Edwards, S. (eds.) (1995). Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea 7: 1-430. The National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia & The Department of Systematic Botany, Upps.
    • Clayton, W.D. & Renvoize, S.A. (1982). Gramineae Flora of Tropical East Africa 3: 451-898.

    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

    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