Syst. Pl. 333 (1753).- Type: Hb. Linné 460, India (holo- LINN).
Regional litterature: Fl. Zambesiaca 10,1: 36, fig (1971; FWTA: 365 (1972); Gram. Togo: 265 (983); Fl. Mauritania: 430, fig (1991); Gram. Cameroun: 51 (1992); Poicelot, Poac. CI: 74, fig. (1995) ; Pl. Mauritania: 270 (1998); Pl. Vasc. Guiné-Bissau: 170 (2006); Fl. Guinée: 467 (2009); Pl. Burkina Faso: 99 (2012); Fl. Chad (2013).
Description:
* Annual with spongy culms of 0.4-1 m high. Lower leaves linear, 30-40 cm long and up to 12 mm broad; lower side scabrid; ligule acuminate, up to 4 cm long.Culms Leaves papery, bright green.
* Inflorescence a lanceolate panicle, 20-30 cm long with ascending branches, the lower up to 12 cm long.
* Spikelets elliptic green, 9 mm long and 3 mm broad, scabrous; stipe of 0.7 mm between the sterile and fertile lemmas, glabrous. Basal lemmas 2, sterile, 2.5-3 mm long without paleas; upper lemma fertile, acuminate to aristate, reticulate and scabrid on the nerves; palea similar. Anthers pale yellow white.
Distribution West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, CAR.
Distribution world-wide: Africa, worldwide introduced.