Ess. Agrostogr. : 53 (1812).- Type: Kalm, Europe (lecto- LINN).
Panicum crus-galli Linn., Sp. Pl. 56 (1753) ;
Ischaemum glabrescens Ham. ex Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 7: 31 (1896), inval.
Panicum crus-galli var. polystachyum Asch. & Schweinf., Type: Schweinfurth 3730, Sudan, Niamniam (syn- W).
Regional litterature: FTA 9: 610 (1920); FTEA: 557 (1982); Gram. Togo: 201 (1983); Fl. Zambesiaca 10,3: 52 (1989); Poac. CI: 368, fig. (1995); Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 213, fig (1995); Fl. Guinée: Fl. Chad (2013); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 127 (2015).
Description:
* Annual of 0.5-0.6 m high. Culms erect. Leaves with stiff hairs, margins cartilaginous, white, scabrous; ligule reduced.
* Inflorescence a panicule with numerous untidy racemes of acuminate or awned spikelets, simple with numerous spikelets in groups of 3, rarely 4. Pedicels short
* Spikelets ovate-elliptic, 3-4 mm long, hispid. Glumes inequal, membranous, the nerves scabrid to spiny; lower ovate, acuminate, up to ½ of spikelet length; upper glume convex at the back, caudate. Lower lemma depressed in its back, with a subule of 1-5 mm long; upper lemma 2-3 mm long, subcoriace, smooth and shiny. Caryopse oblong, 2 mm long.
Distribution West Africa: Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Togo, Sudan.
Distribution world-wide: Algeria, Morocco, Tunesia, Libya, Egypt, Uganda, and Tanzania and southern Africa, Europe, Asia; introduced in the Americas.