Family |
Poaceae
Hyparrhenia hirta
(L.) Stapf
Hyparrhenia hirta (L.) Stapf
First published in D.Oliver & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Trop. Afr. 9: 315 (1919).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, pp. 44–45, Pl. XIV, 2; 1966)
Description
Synonym: Andropogon hirtus L.
Life-form & habit: Perennial grass with erect, hairless stems 40–120 cm tall. Sheaths of sterile shoots flattened; those of the stem leaves rounded.
Leaves: Blades narrowly linear, bluish-green, hairless except at the base, often with marginal hairs and rough edges. Ligules membranous, fringed with hairs, up to 4 mm long.
Inflorescence & flowers: Elongated panicle 10–30 cm long, with one to four tiers of branches, solitary or in groups of two or three, arising from spathes. Branchlets end in two slightly diverging, spike-like racemes 3–4 cm long; their joints and stalks are long-haired on one side. Sessile spikelets linear-oblong, 4–5 mm long, often reddish, with a wedge-shaped, bearded basal callus about 1 mm long. Glumes equal; the lower one has 9–11 veins and long external hairs, and the upper one has three veins and long marginal hairs. The fertile upper flower has a translucent linear lemma bearing a brown, bent, twisted, hairy awn, about 1.5–3 cm long; the palea is absent. Stalked spikelets narrowly linear-lanceolate.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Throughout the year.
Habitat & elevation: Rocks and pastures; common in Mouterde’s account.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Ras Naqoura, north of Tyre, south of Saida, Saida, Beirut and surroundings, Nahr el Kelb, Nahr Ibrahim, Batroun, Tripoli, Abey, Jamhour, below Beit Meri, Kahale, Jisr el Hajar and Jabal Barouk.
Syrian distribution: Tartous, Banias, Latakia, Bagtche Caz, west of Safita, Haffe, Bhamra and Jabal Abou Ata.
Recorded locations: Kornet Chehwan.
Native range: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Baleares, Botswana, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Corse, Cyprus, Djibouti, DR Congo, East Aegean Is., Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, France, Free State, Gabon, Greece, Guinea, Gulf States, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kenya, Kriti, KwaZulu-Natal, Lebanon-Syria, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Madeira, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Northern Provinces, NW. Balkan Pen., Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Portugal, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Sinai, Socotra, Somalia, Spain, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Türkiye, Uganda, West Himalaya, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Introduced into: Ascension, Azores, Bangladesh, Brazil South, California, Cambodia, Cuba, Czechia-Slovakia, Dominican Republic, Florida, Germany, Haiti, Hawaii, Leeward Is., Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Myanmar, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Peru, Queensland, South Australia, Venezuela, Victoria, Western Australia.