Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 17 : 298 (1921).- Type : Dinklage 2281, Liberia (holo- B, iso- K).
Regional litterature: FWTA : 406 (1972); Poac. CI: 192, fig. (1995); Fl. Guinée: 478 (2009).
Description:
* Caespitose perennial of 10-90 cm long. Culms erect, glossy light green, branched. Leaves 15-25 cm long and 3-7 mm wide; ligule a white fringe of hairs; sheath bright green, smooth.
* Inflorescence a linear panicle of 20-40 cm long, contracted about primary branches. Primary branches ascending (incurved), distant their own length apart, whorled at most nodes, 10-20 whorls, 1-2 cm long. Branches glabrous, bearing spikelets almost to the base in axils. Spikelets subsessile along the branches; pedicels oblong, 0.3-0.5 mm long.
* Spikelets lanceolate, 2-2.2 mm long, ivory green to red-brown. Lower glume elliptic, 0.8-1 mm long, obtuse; upper glume lanceolate, 2-2.2 mm long, obtuse. Lemma ovate, 2-2.2 mm long, membranous, red, obtuse. Anthers 2, 0.8 mm long. Caryopsis ellipsoid, 1-1.2 mm long and 0.6 mm wide, brown.
Distribution West Africa and world-wide: Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast.
Note: Closely related to S. sanguineus.