Schlechtendalia 25: 60 (2013).- Type: Schimper s.n., Ethiopia, debra-Eski (holo- P).
Trisetum umbrosum Hochst. ex Steud., Syn. Pl. Glumac. 1: 227 (1854);
Helictotrichon umbrosum (Hochst. ex Steud.) C.E.Hubbard, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1936: 334 (1936);
Helictotrichon thomasii C.E. Hubbard, Kew Bull 1936: 500 (1936).- Type: Thomas 1862, South Sudan (holo- K).
Regional litterature: FTEA: 88 (1970); Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 32, fig (1995); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 132 (2015).
Description:
* Tufted perennial of 0.4-0.8 m high. Culms slender, suberect or ascending. Leaves flat, 2 mm wide, scattered pilose on the upper surface
* Inflorescence in a linear stiff panicle or looser and slightly flexuous of 10-20 cm long, the short braches lying close to the main axis.
* Spikelets narrowly oblong, 10-16 mm long, 2-4 flowered with the florets excerted; rhacilla internodes 2-2.8 mm long, hispid above or almost glabrous. Lower glume narrowly lanceolate, 5.8-8 mm long, upper glume narrowly oblong, 7.6-9 mm long. Lemmas 7.2-8.5 mm long, firm, smooth, glabrous or minutely puberulous; awn geniculate, 12-16 mm long, arising from the middle of the lemma.
Distribution West Africa: South Sudan.
Distribution world-wide: Ethiopia, Uganda, DRC.