Bol. Soc. Brot. 3: 135 (1885).- Type: Sierra Leone.
Andropogon platypus Trin., Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St.-Pétersbourg, Sér. 6, Sci. Math. 2: 261 (1833);
Elionurus pallidus K. Schum., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 24: 326 (1897). – Type: Sierra Leone; Elionurus brazzae Franch., Bull. Soc. Hist. Nat. Autun 8: 323 (1895).
Regional litterature: FWTA: 505(1972) ; Poac. CI: 654, fig. (1985); Fl. Zambesiaca 10,4: 159 (1999); Fl. Guinée: 457 (2009).
Description:
* Caespitose perennial, 0.6-1.5 m high. Culms erect, branched. Leaves basal and cauline, 5-10 cm long and 2-4 mm wide, glabrous, stiff; ligule a fringe of short hairs; sheaths glabrous, the basal ones keeled.
* Inflorescence composed of terminal and axillary solitary exserted racemes. Racemes flexuous, 6-8 cm long; rhachis fragile, linear; internodes and pedicels 2-3 mm long, villous.
* Sessile spikelets lanceolate, 7-8 mm long; callus oblong, obtuse, 2 mm long, pubescent. Lower glume ovate, chartaceous with oil streaks, 2-keeled, glabrous but margins ciliolate, tip dentate; upper glume lanceolate, glabrous. Lower lemma 5 mm long, acute. Pedicelled spikelet lanceolate, 4-5 mm long; glumes chartaceous, keeled. glabrous; ciliate on margins, acute, muticous.
Distribution West Africa: Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast.
Distribution world-wide: Congo, DRC, Zambia.