Ess. Agrostogr. 91 (1812) .- Type: Linneaus, Europe (holo- LINN).
Aira cespitosa Linn., Sp. Pl. 64 (1753);
Aira caespitosa Muhl., Descr. Gram. 85 (1817), nom. illeg.
Regional litterature: Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 33, fig (1995).
Description:
* Robust perennial tussock grass of 0.3-1.1 m high. Culms erect, 1-3-noded. Leaves mostly basal, tough, flat or folded, 10-30 cm long and 2.5-5 mm wide, strongly ribbed and harshly scabrid above, smooth below; ligule pointed, 8-15 mm long; sheaths smooth, striate.
* Inflorescence a flexuous nodding panicle of 12-20 cm long, narrowly oblong at first, the branches spreading at maturity, many speculate; pedicels 1-6 mm long, scabrous.
* Spikelets narrowly oblong, 2, rarely 3,-flowered, 4.5-6 mm long, green or purplish with golden sheen, the tips of florets and awns protruding from the glumes, glabrous; callus pilose. Glume narrowly oblong, the upper 3-nerved, 4-6 mm long. Lemmas elliptic oblong, 3-4.5 mm long, truncate and 4-denticulate or lacerate, awn subbasal, 3.5-5 mmm long, fine, obscurely twisted, not or scarcely exserted from spikelet.
Distribution West Africa: Cameroon Mt.
Distribution world-wide: Ethiopia, Uganda, DRC, Congo and Rwanda, E Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, N and C America.