Linnaea 7: 293 (1832).- Type: Delile, s.n., Egypt (holo- MPU).
Aristida obtusa Delile, Descript. Egypte, Hist. Nat. 175 (1813);
Aristida capensis Thunb., Prodr. Pl. Cap.: 19 (1794);
Stipagrostis capensis Nees, Linnaea 7291 (1831).
Regional litterature: Fl. Sahara: 169 (1977); Fl. Mauritanie 2: 476, fig (1991); Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 86 (1995); Pl. Mauritanie: 277 (1998); Fl. Chad (2013).
Description:
* Tufted perennial forming dense cushions, the basal sheaths persistant and finally fibrous, up to 35 cm high. Leaves basal, stiff, tightly inrolled.
* Inflorescence in a panicle of 6-20 cm long, narrow, contracted, looser and interrupted at the base.
* Spikelets 8-12 mm long callus elongated, bearded, 1 mm long. Glumes 3-nerved, 8.5-12 mm long. Lemma 2.5-4 mm long, smooth, abruptly contracted into the awn. Column of awn 5-9 mm long, glabrous; central limb 2-3 cm long, glabrous below the middle, plumose above to the tip; lateral branches 10-15 mm long, glabrous.