Tent. Fl. Abyss. 2: 412 (1851).- Type: Schimper 110, Adua Tigre, Ethiopia (holo- P, iso- K).
Regional litterature: FTEA: 261 (1974); Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 139, fig (1995); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 128 (2015).
Description:
* Tufted annual up to 45 cm high. Culms fairly slender, ascending. Leaves linear, 6-26 cm long and 3-6 mm wide, flat or loosely folded, sparsely pilose, abruptly pointed; ligule truncate, 1 mm long.
* Inflorescence 2-8 short broad racemes ascending or spreading, alternating on a short axis towards the top of the culm, often forming a compact cluster. Racemes oblong to ovate, 1.5-3 cm long, pale green, usually tinged with grey; rhachis narrowly winged. Spikelets closely overlapping.
* Spikelets 5-15-flowered, ovate to broadly ovate, 7-11 mm long, disarticulating between the florets. Glumes subequal, 2.8-4.2 mm long, winged on the keel, the lower 1-nerved, the upper 3-nerved. Lemmas ovate in profile, 3.3-5.3 mm long, 1-3 lateral nerves on each side, keel scabrid, tip cuspidate or obtuse and mucronate. Caryopsis broadly oblong, 1-1.2 mm long.
Distribution West Africa: Sudan.
Distribution world-wide: Ethiopia and NE, E and southern Africa, Arabic peninsular; introduced in Mexico.