FTA 9: 304 (1919).- Type: Martius s.n., Brazil (holo- M).
Trachypogon rufus Nees, Agros. Bras. 345 (1829);
Andropogon xanthoblepharis Trin., Mem. Acad. Sci. Pétersb. Sér. 6, 2: 281 (1832);
Cymbopogon rufus (Nees) Kunth, Enum. Pl. 1 : 492 (1833);
Andropogon altissimus Hochst ex A. Braun, Flora 24: 277 (1841);
Hyparrhenia altissima Stapf, FTA 9: 307 (1918);
Hyparrhenia rufa var. major (Rendle) Stapf, FTA 9 : 306 (1919);
Hyparrhenia parvispiculata Bamps, Bull. Jard. Bot. Brux. 25: 391 (1955).
Regional litterature: FI. Gabon, 5: 181, tab. 29: 1-3 (1962); FI. Nigeria: 98, fig 49b (1970); FWTA: 492, fig. 455 (1972); Ghana grasses: 164, fig. 45 (1972); FTEA: 795 (1982); Gram. Togo: 233 (1983); Fl. Rwanda: 295 (1988); Fl. Mauritania: 460, fig (1991); Gram. Cameroun: 477 (1992); Poac. CI: 596, fig. (1995); Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 337, fig (1995); Pl. Mauritanie: 309 (1998); Poaceae Niger: 603, fig. (1999); Fl. Zambesiaca: 102 (2002); Fl. Bénin: 211, fig. (2006); Fl. Guinea Bissau: 138 (2008); Fl. Guinée: 462 (2009); Pl. Burkina Faso: 92 (2012); Fl. Chad (2013); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 134 (2015); Fl.Guinea Eq.: 34 (2015).
Description:
* Robust erect perennial bunchgrass of 0.5-2.5 m high, in large tufts. Culms coarse and usually shiny yellow, 2-6 mm diam;. Leaves sometimes sharply deflexed from the culm, long linear, 30-60 cm long and 2-8 mm wide, usually glabrous with a slightly recessed white midrib and sharp scabrid margins tending to roll outwards; base narrowed, slightly narrowed and often hairy, passing directly into the sheath; ligule a brown glabrous membrane of 1.5-2 mm long; sheath glabrous. Roots well developed, fine to coarse and robust
* Inflorescence a fasciculate panicle of 5-90 cm long with numerous flowering branches with paired racemes excerted from narrow spatheoles of 3-5 cm long. Racemes reddish-brown, often reflexed, 2-2.5 cm long; rachis fragile, ciliate on margins, hairs red, internodes linear; raceme-bases filiform, unequal, the lower 1-2 mm long, the upper 1.5--3.5 mm long, glabrous; (7 -) 9-14 awns per pair of racemes. One pair of homogamous spikelets on the basis of the lower raceme, and none or one pair in the upper raceme.
* Sessile spikelet lanceolate, 3.5-4.5 mm long; callus oblong to cuneate, 0.2-0.8 mm long, base obtuse with white or yellow hairs. Lower glume shiny, lanceolate, pilose with red hairs; upper glume linear, mucronate. Upper lemma linear, 3-4 mm long with a geniculate awn of 2-3 cm long from the sinus, with rufous pubescent twisted column. Pedicelled and homogamous spikelets lanceolate, 3.5-5 mm long; glumes pilose with white or red hairs, acute, muticous.
Distribution West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mali, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan.
Distribution world-wide: Bioko, Congo, DRC, Ethiopia, Uganda; C, NE, E and southern Africa, E, Asia; introduced in India and Latin America.