Contr. US Nat. Herb. 18: 345 (1917).- Type: Roussillon s.n., Senegal (holo- P).
Panicum pyramidalis Lam., Tab. Encycl. Méth. Bot.: 171 (1791);
Echinochloa senegalensis Mez, N.B.G.B. 7: 56 (1917).- Type: Roussillon, Senegambie;
Panicum crus-galli var. polystachyum Aschers. & Schweinf., Ill. Fl. Aegypt. 159 (1887).- Type: Schweinfurth 3730, Sudan (isosyn- K); Schweinfurth 3497, Sudan;
Echinochloa verticillata Berhaut, Mém. Soc. Bot. Fr. 1953-4: 9 (1954).- Type Berhaut 617, Senegal (holo- P).
Regional litterature: Fl. Agr. Congo Belge 2: 141, fig. 32 (1934); FWTA: 561 (1972); Ghana grasses: 141 (1977); FTEA: 561 (1982); Fl. Zambesiaca 10,3: 56 (1989); Fl. Mauritania: 451 (1991); Gram. Cameroun: 251, fig. 54 (1992); Fl. Bénin: 201 (2006); Poac. CI: 362, fig. (1995); Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 213, fig (1995); Pl. Mauritanie: 298 (1998); Poac. Niger: 402, fig. (1999); Pl. Vasc. Guiné-Bissau: 166 (2006); Fl. Guinea Bissau: 136 (2008); Fl. Guinée: 457 (2009); Pl. Burkina Faso: 80 (2012); Fl. Chad (2013); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 127 (2015).
Description:
* Variable robust rhizomatous perennial, 1-3.5 m high, the culms spongy and floating, woody and erect or in a tangled masse with dark nodes. Culms stout terete and glaucous. Leaves long linear, to 30-60 cm long and 1-3 cm broad, glaucous and usually glabrous, with fine nerves and a well defined midrib, with sharply scabrid or cutting margins; base slightly narrowed, well rounded, with a prominent white collar; ligule a fringe of stiff white hairs; sheath glaucous, glabrous distinctly nerved. Roots strong and well developed.
* Inflorescence pyramidal, dense of 20 or more ascending simple racemes along a central axe of 15-40 cm long, Racemes 5-12 cm long, crowded with plump, usually pale-green spikelets. Rachis angular, with hairs of 4-5 mm long.
* Spikelets acute to acuminate, 2.5-3.5 mm long, awnless, often purple tinted with scabrous nerves. Lower glume 1-1.5 mm long; upper glume and lower lemma as long as spikelet; upper lemma sub coriaceous, convex on the back, glossy, white.
Distribution West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mali, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan.
Distribution world-wide: Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, Congo, Gabon, and Somalia, E and south Africa, Arabic Peninsula; introduced in Central America.