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Graminae
Description
A densely tufted perennial up to 120 cm high, with culms usually
hairy below the inflorescence. False spike dense, 4.5-9 cm long with 3.5-5
mm long spikelets surrounded by numerous bristles up to 12 mm long. It
occurs in acacia tall-grass savannah throughout central and east tropical
Africa and is common on the Ethiopian Highlands and in the highlands of
Somalia, at elevations of 1 600-3 100 m in a rainfall regime of 500-750
mm per year. Dougall and Bogdan (1958) recorded 9 percent crude protein,
35.6 percent crude fibre, 7.3 percent ash, 2.9 percent ether extract and
45.2 percent nitrogen-free extract in the dry matter of fresh material
in the early bloom stage in Kenya. However, it is of low palatability,
and is generally avoided by grazing animals. It can be suppressed in red
oat grass (Themeda triandra) grassland by burning during the dormant season
after most of the grasses have ripened (Edwards, 1942). It can also be
ploughed or hoed out if accessible.
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