Ass. Agrostogr. 51 (1812).- Type: Forskall, Yemen (holo- C).
Phalaris velutina Forssk., Fl. Aegypt.-Arab.: 17 (1775).
Regional litterature: Fl. Ethiopia & Eritrea 7: 254, fig (1995); Pl. Burkina Faso: 80 (2012); Pl. Sudan & S Sudan: 126 (2015).
Description:
* Loosely tufted or straggling annual of 20-60 cm high. Culms slender, ascending from a decumbent base, often rooting from the lower nodes. Leaves lanceolate, 3-15 cm long and 4-17 mm wide, thin, pilose; ligule an eciliate membrane.
* Inflorescence composed of 3-14 widely divergent , straight racemes spaced along an axis of 1-6 cm long, axis shorter than lowest raceme. Racemes slender, 3-10 cm long, the lower occasionally with racemelets; spikelets borne loosely in pairs, overlapping by half their length; rhachis triquetrous, narrowly winged, sometimes with long fine hairs.
* Spikelets elliptic, 1.5-2.1 mm long, appressed silky-pubescent (sometimes obscurely), subacute. Lower glume obsolete or a tiny scale of up to 0.2 mm long; upper glume lanceolate, 2/3-4/5 as long as spikelet, membranous, 3-nerved. Lower lemma elliptic, as long as spikelet, 7-nerved, glabrous around the midnerve, rarely the lateral hairs spreading into a ciliate fringe, acute; upper lemma elliptic, 1.5-2 mm long, cartilaginous, usually grey, occasionally grey brown or violet-tinged.
Distribution West Africa: Burkina Faso, Sudan, South Sudan.
Distribution world-wide: Ethiopia, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea and C, NE, E and southern Africa, Arabic peninsula; introduced in the Americas.
Note: D. horizontalis is very similar, but has slightly longer, narrower spikelets (2-2.5 mm long) and a shorter upper glume (less than ½ spikelet length). D. velutina, D. nuda, D. horizontalis and D. ciliaris represent different facies of a single intergrading complex, which also includes D. sanguinalis.