grass
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
. It was described by French botanist Aimée Antoinette Camus in 1948, who named it in honour of
Mary Agnes Chase
Mary Agnes Chase (1869–1963) was an American botanist who specialized in agrostology, the study of grasses. Although lacking formal education past elementary school, Chase was able to rise through the ranks as a botanist at the United States De ...
. Its two species were also classified in the genera '' Echinolaena'' and '' Panicum'', but
phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
analysis confirmed that they form a distinct lineage.
Species of the genus are erect grasses, tall. They have ovate to linear leaves. The inflorescence is a terminal, one-sided
raceme
A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...
, sometimes in clusters of up to five. The
glumes
In botany, a glume is a bract (leaf-like structure) below a spikelet in the inflorescence (flower cluster) of grasses (Poaceae) or the flowers of sedges (Cyperaceae). There are two other types of bracts in the spikelets of grasses: the lemma and ...
have prominent stiff hairs. The spikelets are paired and have no awns. The genus can be distinguished from similar forest grass species in ''
Acroceras
''Acroceras'' is a genus of tropical and subtropical plants in the grass family.
The genus is widespread across warmer parts of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, with a high amount of diversity in Madagascar.Ahmed, Z.U. (ed.) (2008). Encyclopedia ...
'', ''
Brachiaria
''Brachiaria'', or signalgrass, is a genus of plants in the grass family native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Australia, southern Europe, the Americas, and various islands.Urochloa'' and '' Poecilostachys'' by its denser and thicker racemes.
The upper florets have oily appendages,
elaiosome
Elaiosomes ( grc, ἔλαιον ''élaion'' "oil" + ''sóma'' "body") are fleshy structures that are attached to the seeds of many plant species. The elaiosome is rich in lipids and proteins, and may be variously shaped. Many plants have elaio ...
s, which suggest seed dispersal by ants (
myrmecochory
Myrmecochory ( (sometimes myrmechory); from grc, μύρμηξ, mýrmēks ("ant") and ''khoreíā'' ("circular dance") is seed dispersal by ants, an ecologically significant ant–plant interaction with worldwide distribution. Most myrmeco ...
), although this has not directly been observed.
''Chasechloa'' species are found in savanna, rocky outcrops or dry forest. They are restricted to the north-west of Madagascar.
The two species are:
*''
Chasechloa egregia
''Chasechloa'' is a grass genus in the tribe Paniceae (subtribe Boivinellinae), endemic to Madagascar. It was described by French botanist Aimée Antoinette Camus in 1948, who named it in honour of Mary Agnes Chase. Its two species were also c ...
'' (synonyms ''Panicum egregium'', ''Echinolaena boiviniana'' – this species is probably extinct; only one specimen from
Nosy Be
Nosy Be (formerly Nossi-bé and Nosse Be) is an island off the northwest coast of Madagascar. Nosy Be is Madagascar's largest and busiest tourist resort. It has an area of , and its population was 109,465 according to the provisional results of t ...