Fl. Trop. Afr. 9: 485 (1919).- Type: Gossweiler s.n., Angola, Benguella (holo K).
Regional litterature: FWTA: 448 (1972); FTEA: 615 (1982); Gram. Cameroun: 256 (1992).
Description:
* Straggling perennial of 0.5-1 m high; basal sheaths at most pubescent and not bulbously thickened. Culms decumbent, wiry, slender. Leaves mostly convolute, 5-15 cm long and 1-2 mm wide; ligule a fringe of hairs.
* Inflorescence of 2-3 digitate racemes. Racemes 4-13 cm long, slender, the spikelets somewhat distant, often bare at the base.
* Spikelets narrowly ovate, 2.5-4 mm long, dark green. Lower glume 1-1.5 mm long; upper glume acute, membranous, appressed ciliate on the margins. Lower lemma ovate, membranous, 5-veined; upper lemma oblong, 2-3.5 mm long, chartaceous, 5-veined, acuminate, with an awn of 0.5-1 mm long, the palea sparsely pubescent.
Distribution West Africa: Nigeria, Cameroon.
Distribution world-wide: Uganda, DRC and Kenya, Zambia, Angola.