Bull. Jard. Bot. Natl. Belg. 38. 38 (Suppl.): 1269 (1968).- Type: Schimper 1324, Ethiopia (holo- L, iso- BR,LG,M).
Danthonia leptophylla A. Rich., Tent. Fl. Abyss. 2: 421 (1850);
Tripogon leptophyllus Nees ex Steud., Syn. Pl. Glumac. 1: 301 (1854). nom. superfl.
Regional litterature: Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 97 (1995); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 150 (2015)
Description:
* Delicate perennial, 10-55 cm high; butt sheaths persistent, splitting into dense cushions of fine regular fibres; culms wiry. Leaves filiform, 2.5-25 cm long and 0.5-2 mm wide, pilose; ligule a ciliolate membrane; sheaths pilose.
* Inflorescence a very slender unilateral raceme of 3-18 cm long, scarcely extending above the leaves, the spikelets distant or only slightly imbiricate; rhachis angular, spikelets broadside, 2-rowed.
* Spikelets with 4-10 fertile florets and reduced florets towards the tip, oblong, 6.5-11 mm long, breaking up below the florets. Glumes similar, lanceolate, membranous, 2-5 mm long, 1-keeled. Lemmas oblong, 2.2-3.3 mm long, membranous, dark green or grey, dentate, 2-fid with a straight flexuous awn of 2-4 mm long in the sinus; palea keels winged. Anthers 3, 0.8-1.3 mm long.
Note: The boundary with T. multiflorus is not clear-cut.
Distribution West Africa: Sudan (Jebel Marra).
Distribution world-wide: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Oman, Yemen.