Graminae 

Common names: Aristida

Description

Tufted annual with thin culms 15-30 cm high. Leaf-blades flat or folded 2.5-10 cm long, up to 2 mm wide. Panicle linear up to 10 cm long, composed of a few long spikelets. Lower glume 20-30 mm long and 3-6 mm longer than the upper glume but both long attenuate; body of the lemma up to 4 mm long, awn column articulated below, 16-45 mm long.

Habitat

Dry sandy soil in open or wooded grassland.

Altitude range

± 300 m

Distribution

Kenya; also from Senegal to Somalia then through Saudi Arabia to India.

Use

Grazed when young but almost unpalatable at the late flowering and seeding stages. Of some importance for grazing in dry areas.

Edited by: F. Guiso Gallisai
Information taken from: Ibrahim, K. M., Kabuye, C. H. S. 1988. An illustrated manual of Kenya grasses. Rome, FAO. 765 pp.