Fl. Carniol. Ed. 2.1: 52 (1771).- Type: Van Royen, cultivated (lecto- L).
Panicum sanguinale Linn, Sp. Pl. 57 (1753).
Regional litterature: Fl. Chad (2013); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 126 (2015).
Description:
* Tufted annual or perennial of 10-30 cm high. Culms decumbent or prostrate, 3-8-noded, rooting from the lower nodes; nodes glabrous or bearded. Leaves 3-10 cm long and 3-8 mm wide; ligule an eciliate membrane of 1-2 mm long; sheath pilose.
* Inflorescence 4-10 digitate racemes. Racemes unilateral, 4-19 cm long; rhachis narrowly winged, angular, scabrous on the margins. Spikelets appressed, pedicelled in pairs.
* Spikelets elliptic, 2.5-3.3 mm long. Lower glume absent or obscure; upper glume lanceolate, 1/3-1/2 as long as spikelet, membranous, 3-veined, hairy between the veins. Obtse. Lower lemma without a palea, elliptic, as long as spikelet, membranous, 7-veined with equidistant nerves, scabrous on the veins and hairy between the veins; upper lemma as long as spikelet, elliptic, cartilaginous, margins flat, covering most og the palea, acute.
Distribution West Africa: Cape Verde, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan.
Distribution world-wide: Morocco, Algeria, Tunesia, Libya, Egypt, Burundi, Tanzania and southern Africa, Europe, temporate Asia, introduced in the Americas.