J. Linn. Soc. , Bot. 19: 118 (1881).- Type: Egypt.
Dactylis memphitica Spreng., Bot. Gart. Halle, Nachtr. 1: 20 (1801).
Description:
* Tufted annual; culms 4-35 cm high, procumbent to erect, somewhat rigid. Leaves 2-10 cm long, 1-2 mm wide, flat or convolute, smooth or scaberulous; sheaths inflated.
* Inflorescence a sparingly branched panicle, partly enclosed in the uppermost leaf-sheath, 3-15 cm long, mostly with 1 spikelet and 1(-2) branches at each node; branches and pedicles pulvinate, strongly divaricate at maturity.
* Spikelets oblanceolate, 7-10.5 mm long, 2-3(-4)-flowered. Glumes acute to acuminate, apiculate, glabrous, thickly 1-nerved, the lower 3.5-4.3 mm long, the upper 4.5-5.5 mm long. Lemma 5.8-7.5 mm long (excluding the 0.5-1.2 mm long awn), glabrous, acuminate.
Distribution West Africa: Cape Verde, Mauritiana
Distribution world-wide: Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Tunesia, Libya, Egypt and Spain, West Asia and Arabia into Pakistan.