Linnaea 16: 221 (1842).- Type: Schimper 799, Arabia (iso- K,L).
Coelachyrum oligobrachiatum A Camus, Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. II. 3: 546 (1931).- Type: Monod 373, Mali, Adrar de Iforas (holo- P).
Regional litterature: FWTA: 397 (1972); Fl. Sahara: 176 (1977); Fl. Mauritania: 405, fig (1991); Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 133, fig. (1995); Pl. Mauritanie: 287 (1998); Poac. Niger: 240, fig. (1999); Fl. Chad (2013); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 123 (2015).
Description:
* Tufted annual, 5-45 cm high, forming a sprawling tuft. Culms stoloniferous. Leaves lanceolate, 2-6 cm long and up to 5 mm broad; ligule a hyaline rim of 0.8 mm broad; sheaths golden-yellow.
* Inflorescence composed of 3-4 racemes along a central axis of 1-1.5 cm long. Racemes 2-5 cm long and 3-4 mm wide, clustered towards the top of a culm and ascending; rhachis weak. Spikelets on short pedicels of 0.4-0.8 mm long.
* Spikelets ovate, 3.5-4 mm long, 6-8-flowered, breaking up between the florets, yellowish green with dark green nerves. Glumes persistant, the lower 1.5-2 mm and the upper 2-3 mm long. Lemmas broadly obtuse, 1.8-2.5 mm long, yellowish green with 3 prominent dark green nerves, glabrous or hispidulous. Caryopsis more or less discoid, 1 mm long, reddish brown, radiately grooved on one side and deeply hollowed on the other.
Distribution West Africa: Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan
Distribution world-wide: Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia and NE Africa, Arabic Peninsula.