Graminae 

Common names: Fat-spiked yard-grass, Goosegrass

Description

Tufted annual with slender culms up to 45 cm high. Leaf-blades flat or folded, 6-26 cm long and 3-6 mm wide, sparsely pilose and abruptly pointed; ligule truncate ± 1 mm long. Inflorescence of 2-8 broad spikes 1.5-3 cm long, borne compactly on a short axis 4-4.5 cm long. Spikelets 5-15-flowered, 7-11 mm long, closely overlapping on a narrowly winged rhachis; lemmas 3.3-5.2 mm long with a ± thickened keel; grain 1-1.2 mm long, compressed and obliquely ridged.

Habitat

Deciduous bushland, disturbed ground in upland grassland; often as a weed of cultivation.

Altitude range

1500-2700 m.

Distribution

Kenya; also from United Republic of Tanzania and Ethiopia.

Use

Could provide high quality grazing on rich soils and if it occurs in large quantities.

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.