''Elytrophorus spicatus'' (common name spikegrass)
is a small plant in the
Poaceae
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 ...
family native to
Africa, the Indian subcontinent, south-east Asia and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Description
''Elytrophorus spicatus'' is a tufted, annual or perennial plant with bristly culms. The leaves are loosely sheathed, and the blades are rolled in bud. The inflorescence spike (length of up to 26 cm by 5–9 mm wide) consists of globular clusters of spikelets, which are 4 mm long, with bisexual florets. The glumes are shortly awned, about 2 to 3 mm long, and have translucent margins translucent which are sparingly fringed with hairs. The awn and keel are rough. The plant flowers in response to flooding or rain.
Distribution
It is native to Bangladesh, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Cameroon, Chad, China, East Himalaya, Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Hainan, India, Ivory Coast, Lesser Sunda Is.,
Mali, Mauritania, Myanmar, Namibia,
Nepal, Australia, Niger, Nigeria,
Senegal, South Australia,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
,
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Vietnam, Himalaya, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Habitat
It is found in damp soil along creeks, in damp hollows, in seepages,
and in and near water.
Taxonomy
It was first described as ''Dactylis spicata'' by
Carl Ludwig Willdenow in 1801.
It was assigned to the genus, ''
Elytrophorus'', by
Aimée Antoinette Camus in 1923.
References
External links
''Elytrophorus spicatus'' GBIF occurrence data
{{Taxonbar, from=Q11072802
Molinieae
Flora of Australia
Plants described in 1801