FTA 9: 443 (1919);.- Type: Mundy 2170, Zimbabwe, Matabeleland (holo- K).
Digitaria homblei Robyns, Mém. Inst. Roy. Colon. Belge, Sect. Sci. Nat. (4to) 1(1): 27 (1931);
Digitaria katangensis Robyns, Mém. Inst. Col. Belge 1 : 33 (1931).- Type : Homble 1056, DRC (holo- BR).
Regional litterature: FWTA: (1972); Gram. Cameroun: 314 (1992); Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 251, fig (1995); Fl. Chad (2013)
Description:
* Densely tufted perennial, the basal sheaths becoming fibrous and tomentose. Culms 0.5-1.5 m high. Leaves linear, 25-40 cm long and 4-6 mm wide ; pubescent, especially around the ligule ; ligule a fringe of hairs of 5 mm long.
* Inflorescence composed of 6-15 loosely ascending racemes arranged on a short axis 2-8 cm long. Racemes 5-15 cm long, usually compound below, the spikelets in groups of 2-4 along the unwinged , triquetrous rhachis.
* Spikelets narrowly elliptic, 2.3-2.8 mm long. Lower glume a little cuff or sometimes reduced to an obscure rim; upper glume 1/3-4/5 as long as spikelet, 3-nerved, appressed pubescent to pilose, acute or rarely obtuse with slender, pallid or pale brown, obtuse to capitellate hairs. Lower lemma as long as spikelet, 7-nerved, pubescent to pilose usually confined to the 2nd internerve space and margins, usually glabrous besides midrib, very rarely glabrous all over, the hairs fine and flexuous with rounded or minutely globular tips. Caryopsis ellipsoid, light to chestnut brown.
Distribution West Africa: Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad
Distribution world-wide: Ethiopia, DRC, Congo and Tanzania, southern Africa.
Note: A variable species, related to D. setifolia, notably in the hairiness of the spikelet and the length of the upper glume.