Flora 38: 201 (1855).- Type: Schimper in Herb. Buchinger 1174, Ethiopia, Semien (holo- STR, iso- P,S).
Vilfa pellucida (Hochst.) Schweinf., Beitr. Fl. Aeth.: 303 (1867).
Regional litterature: FWTA: 410 (1972); FTEA: 374 (1974); Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 150, fig (1995); Poac. Niger: 301, fig. (1999); Pl. Burkina Faso: 115 (2012); Fl. Chad (2013); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 148 (2015).
Description:
* Densely tufted perennial of 0.2-0.7 m high, the base with fibrous remains of old sheaths. Culms erect, simple and glabrous. Leaves mainly basal, convolute, 4-15 cm long and 1-2 mm wide, thinly pilose at the upper side, filiform at the tip; ligule a fringe of hairs.
* Inflorescence a narrowly lanceolate panicle of 6-20 cm long. Primary branches spreading or ascending, subsecund, spikelets almost to the base, 1-2 cm long, glabrous in the axils.
* Spikelets narrowly lanceolate-oblong, 1.7-2.1 mm long, grey green to dark green. Lower glume oblong and obtuse to long, 0.7-0.8 mm long, acute; upper glume narrowly ovate, 1-1.5 mm. Lemma ovate-elliptic, as long as spikelet, acute to acuminate. Anthers 3, 0.8-0.9 mm long. Caryopsis obovoid to ellipsoid, 0.6-0.8 mm long, strongly laterally compressed.
Distribution West Africa: Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan.
Distribution world-wide: Ethiopia, Uganda and Somalia, E and southern Africa, Arabia.