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Graminae
Description
This grass is known as "alula" in
Ethiopia and "fountain grass" in southern
Africa. It is a densely tufted perennial, up to 100
cm high with long narrow leaf-blades. False spike
dense, plumose, 10-23 cm long, often purplish, with
one to three spikelets, 4.5-6.5 mm long, in a cluster
surrounded by numerous ciliate bristles, up to 40 mm
long (Napper, 1965). It resembles P. villosum but its
spike is more cylindrical, 10-25 cm or more long and
purple or rose-coloured (Chippendall, 1955). It
occurs on rocky slopes in dry bush in Kenya, Tanzania,
and western and north-east Africa at altitudes from
sea-level to 2 000 m. Dougall and Bogdan (1958)
recorded 15.9 percent crude protein, 31.3 percent
crude fibre, 11 percent ash, 2.2 percent ether
extract and 39.6 percent nitrogen-free extract in the
dry matter of fresh material in the early bloom stage
in Kenya. However, it has hard fibrous leaves, is not
very palatable and little grazed. It is cultivated in
Ethiopia and South Africa as an ornamental in parks
and gardens (Chippendall, 1955).
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