Hooker’s Icon. Pl. t. 1371 (1880).- Type: Schimper 171, Adua, Ethiopia (syn- P,G; isosyn- K); Quartin Dillon s.n., Ethiopia (syn- P).
Harpachne schimperi Hochst. ex A. Rich., Tent. Fl. Abyss. 2: 431 (1851).
Regional litterature: FTEA: 270 , fig 74 (1974); Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 129, fig (1995); Fl Zambesiaca 10,2: 154, fig (1999); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 132 (2015).
Description:
* Densely tufted perennial of 0.5–0.7 m high. Culms fairly slender, stiffly erect. Leaves linear, flat or convolute, 15–30 cm long, 2.5–4.5 mm wide, glabrous or sparsely pilose, finely pointed; ligule a ciliate fringe, 0.4–1 mm long.
* Inflorescence 2-10 cm long, linear-oblong with the spikelets loosely arranged along the central axis, towards the base the axis branching to form lateral racemes with up to 4 spikelets; pedicels 5–8 mm long, pubescent.
* Spikelets 10–18-flowered, oblong to narrowly oblong with a serrate outline, 9.5–15 mm long, the lowermost florets slightly shorter than the rest, purplish; rhachilla often visible. Glumes linear-oblong, obtuse, the lower 2.6–3.1 mm long, the upper 3.3–4 mm long. Lemmas lanceolate, 3.3–4.1 mm long, membranous or somewhat cartilaginous, acuminate and mucronate with a mucro of 0.5-2.5 mm long; palea 2/3 as long as the lemma, the keels curved outwardsbut not usually protruding from the floret. Caryopsis ellipsoid, 0.7-1.3 mm long, dark brown.
Note: A polymorphic species with ill-defined geographical variants.
Distribution West Africa: Sudan, South Sudan.
Distribution world-wide: Ethiopia, Uganda, Congo and NE Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Arabic Peninsula.