FTA 9: 217 (1919).- Type: : Mann 2084, Cameroun (holo- W; iso- K)
Andopogon amethystinus Steud. var. lima Hack., in D C , Monogr. Phan. 6: 464 (1889);
Andropogon amethystinus Steud. var. breviaristatus Hack, in D C , Monogr. Phan. 6:464 (1889).
Regional litterature: FWTA: 485 (1972); FTEA: 771 (1982); Gram. Cameroun: 429, fig (1992); Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 322, fig (1995); Fl. Zambesiaca 10,4: 66 (2002); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 118 (2015).
Description: Caespitose perennial 0.5-1.2 m high, forming large tufts; culms erect, unbranched; internodes terete. Leaves 4-50 cm long and 2-4 mm wide, stiffly erect, almost reduced to just the keel, sharp margins, tapering into a very fine point, sparsely pilose; ligule a membrane of 2-4 mm long; sheath slightly auriculate, glabrous, hairy on top.
* Inflorescence in terminal pairs of racemes, switch-like, long-excerted from the spatheoles; pedoncules up to 30 cm long. Racemes 4-15 cm long; internodes and pedicels filiform, 4-4.5 mm long, shorter than spikelets, with scaterred hairs up to 2 mm long on the margins of the pedicels.
* Sessile spikelets (6.5-)8-9 mm long, purple green including the conical callus of 1 mm with a ring of hairs of 1-1.5 mm long. Lower glume slight convex on the back, loosely pilose, a shallow longitudinal groove, 2-dented, keeled and winged in the upper part; upper glume flat on the back, with an awn of 2-5 mm long. Upper lemma bifid to the middle with a geniculate awn of 9-15 mm from the sinus. Pedicelled spikelet male, lanceolate, 5.5-8 mm long, with an awn of 2-3 mm long.