Fl. Afr. Austr. 237 (1841).- Type: Drège 4318, South Africa, Cape Province (holo- B; iso- K,P).
Ctenium nubicum var. somalense Chiov., Annuario Reale 1st. Bot. Roma 7: 71 (1897).- Type: Riva 180 (1486), Ethiopia, Gobo Duaya (syn- K); Riva 525, Ethiopia, Bidelumi (syn- FT);
Ctenium somalense (Chiov.) Chiov., Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital. 26: 82 (1919).
Regional litterature: FTEA: 325 (1974); Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 163, fig. (1995); Fl. Zambesiaca 10,2: 228 (1999); Fl. Chad (2013); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 124 (2015).
Description:
* Tufted wiry perennial of 0.3-1 m high. Basal sheaths broad, becoming chestnut brown, investing base of culm; glands wart-like. Culms erect, wiry. Leaves 10-30 cm long, tightly involute; ligule an eciliate membrane.
* Inflorescence a solitary arcuate raceme of 6-10 cm long, curved in a arc and bearded at the summit of the peduncle. Rhachis semiterete, glabrous but pubescent on margins, terminating in a barren subulate extension.
* Spikelets laterally compressed, cuneate, 5-6 mm long; 2 basal sterile florets, one fertile floret and diminished florets at the apex. Lower glume lanceolate, 2-3 mm long; upper glume 5-6 mm long, hispidulous. Lower lemma oblong-elliptic, 3-3.5 mm long, ciliate on keel and marginal nerves, densely pubescent between, awned from below the tip; 2nd lemma lanceolate, produced into a triangular tongue; fertile lemma ovate, 4-4.5 mm long, long-ciliate on the marginal nerves and glabrous between, awned from below the tip, awn 4.5-5.5 mm long; apical sterile florets 2, linear, 1-2.5 mm long
Distribution West Africa: Ghana, Nigeria, CAR, Chad, Sudan
Distribution world-wide: Ethiopia, Uganda, DRC and Somalia, E and southern Africa.