FTA 9: 308 (1919).- Type: Chevalier 10509, Tchad (holo- K).
Cymbopogon exarmatus Stapf, J. Bot., sér 2,2: 210 (1909);
Andropogon rufus var. exarmatus Stapf, in Chév. Sudania 1: 180(1911);
Hyparrhenia fastigiata Robyns, Fl. Agrost. Congo belge: 164 (1929).
Regional litterature: FWTA: 492 (1972); FTEA: 794 (1982); Gram. Cameroun: 475 (1992); Pl. Burkina Faso: 91 (2012); Fl. Chad (2013); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 133 (2015).
Description: Rhizomatous annual or perennial of 1-1.5 m high. Leaves glabrous, 40-60 cm long and 3-8 mm wide, scabrid on the margins; ligule 1-2 mm long, glabrous; sheaths glabrous.
* Inflorescence a narrow spatheolate panicle of 15-50 cm long; spatheoles linear-lanceolate, 3-6 scm long, red, convolutous around the peduncle at maturity. Peduncles as long as the spatheoles. Racemes in pairs, 1-2.5 cm long with 12-19 spikelet pairs, internodes 1.5-2.5 mm long with white or brownish-red hairs of 1 mm long; base of upper raceme 2.5-4.5 mm long, slightly flattened; one pair of homogamous spikelets at the base of the lower raceme.
* Sessile spikelets lanceolate, 3-5 mm long, muticous or sometimes a few with an awn,, often purplish pink; callus short and obtuse, 0.2 mm long. Lower glume reddish brown, shiny and convexe, with a sparse indumentum of rufous hairs. Lower lemma lanceolate, 3 mm long, hyaline, nerveless, loosely ciliate on the margins; upper lemma narrowly lanceolate, 3 mm long, 3-nerved, minutely truncate and mucronate at the apex, sparsely ciliate on the margins. Pedicelled spikelets dark green to violet, 3-4 mm long. Homogamous spikelets similar, 3.5-5 mm long.
Distribution West Africa: Mali, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, CAR, Chad, South Sudan.
Distribution world-wide: DRC, Congo, Kenya.