Bull. Soc. Bot. France110 (Session Extraord.): 84 (1966).- Type: Gouan, France (holo- K).
Agrostis viridis Gouan, Hortus Monsp.: 546 (1762);
Polypogon semiverticillatus (Forssk.) Hyl., Uppsala Univ. Arsskr. 7: 74 (1945).
Regional litterature: Fl. Sahara: 173 (1977); Fl. Zambesiaca 10,1: 86 (1971); Fl. Mauritania: 424, fig (1991); Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7:44, fig (1995).
Description:
* Loosely tufted short-lived caespitose perennial of 0.2-1 m high with slender stolons; culms geniculately ascending or decumbent, sometimes rooting from lower nodes. Leaves flat, 2-17 cm long and 2-7 mm wide, scaberulous; ligule an eciliate membrane of 2-4 mm long.
* Inflorescence a dense, contracted, oblong or ovate, interrupted panicle of 2-8(-11) cm long and 0.5-4 cm wide; branches whorled at most nodes, bearing tiny spikelets densely crowded almost to the base. Pedicels linear, 0.2-0.5 mm long.
* Spikelets elliptic, 1.75-2 mm long, falling entire with the pedicel attached; callus glabrous. Glumes similar, exceeding apex of florets, membranous, 1-keeled, 1 -veined, margins ciliolate obtuse; lower glume elliptic, 1.75-2 mm long; upper glume elliptic, 1.75-2 mm long. Fertile lemma oblong, 1-1.5 mm long, hyaline and shining, truncate, muticous. Anthers 3, 0.5-0.75 mm long. Caryopsis oblong, 1 mm long.
Distribution West Africa: Cape Verde, Mauritania
Distribution world-wide: Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Tunesia, Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Europe, southern Asia; introduced in the Americas.