Révis. Gramin. 1: 91 (1829) ; WCPI, rec. 422305 (2010).- Type : Michaud s.n., USA (holo P).
Eleusine mucronata Michx., Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1 : 6565 (1803) ;
Festuca filiformis Lam., Tab, Encycl. 1: 191 (1791) , (homonym) ;
Leptochloa filiformis (Lamarck) Palisot de Beauvois, Ess. Agrost. 71: 161, 166 (1812).
Regional litterature: FWTA: 398 (1972); Ghana grasses: 176 (1977).
Description:
* Loosely tufted erect annual up to 0.6 m. Culms slender, 4 noded, erect. Leaves linear, thin soft and glabrous with scabrous margins; base narrowed and passing straight into sheath; ligule inconspicuous; sheath glabrous.
* Inflorescence slender straight racemes ascending from the central axis.
* Spikelets 2-3 mm long, 2-5-flowered. Lower glume 1.2-1.5 mm long; upper glume linear to narrowly lanceolate, acute, 1.5-1.8 mm long. Lemmas long-acuminate, only slightly exceeding the spikelets, 1-1.5 mm long, glabrous.
Distribution West Africa: Introduced in Ghana and Nigeria.
Distribution world-wide: Tropical America; introduced in E Asia.