Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 26: 214 (1912).- Type: Thunberg Hb. no. 1776, Japan (holo- UPS, IDC 1036).
Phalaris hispida Thunb. in J.A.Murray, Syst. Veg. ed. 14: 104 (1784);
Alectoridia quartianus A. Rich., Tent. Fl. Abyss. 2: 448 (1851);
Arthraxon quartinianus (A.Rich.) Nash in N.L.Britton & al. (eds.), N. Amer. Fl. 17: 99 (1912);
Arthraxon micans (Nees) Hochst., Flora 39: 188 (1856); FTEA: 742, fig. (1982); Fl. Guinée: 451 (2009);
Arthraxon hispidus (Thunb.) Makino var. quartianus (A. Rich.) Back., Handb. Fl. Java 2: 75 (1928);
Batratherum micans Nées, Edinb. New Phil. Journ. 18: 182 (1835).
Regional litterature: FTA 9: 166 (1917); Fl. Agr. Congo Beige 1: 102 (1929); Fl. Nigeria: 87 (1970); FWTA: 470 (1972); FTEA: 742, fig 173 (1982); Gram. Cameroun: 461 (1992); Fl. Zambesiaca 10,4: 89 (2002); Fl. Chad (2013); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 119 (2015)
Description:
* Mat-forming annual of 0.2-0.4 m high. Culms slender, weak, ascending and rooting on the lower nodes, 0.3-1 mm diameter; internodes 1-6 mm long. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, cordate-amplexicaule at the base, 2-8 cm long and 0.6-2.5 cm long, more or less covered with tubercle-based hairs, margins tubesculate ciliate; ligule a ciliolate membrane of 0.5-3 mm long; sheaths glabrous to hispid with tubercle-based hairs.
* Inflorescence in digitate 2-30 racemes. Racemes 2-6 cm long; rhachis fragile at the nodes, glabrous or ciliate, 0.5-0.7 mm long; internodes filiform to linear, 2-6 mm long, ciliate with 0.5-1 mm long hairs. Pedicels linear, 0.1-2 mm long.
* Spikelets lanceolate, 3-8 mm long, awned; callus glabrous to pubescent, truncate. Lower glume lanceolate, chartaceous convexe, spinose on veins, obtuse; upper glume acute to mucronate, often reddish. Lower lemma oblong, hyaline, 2-veined; upper lemma oblong, 2-6 mm long, hyaline with a dorsal awn of 0-20 mm long on 1/5 of lemma length, column slightly twisted, glabrous.
Distribution West Africa: Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan.
Distribution world-wide: DRC, Ethiopia and Uganda, and C, NE, E and southern Africa, Asia; introduced in the Americas.