Megastachya mucronata P.Beauv.

Species

Angiosperms > Poales > Poaceae > Megastachya

Characteristics

Tufted annual 40–90 cm. high.. Leaf-blades narrowly lanceolate, typically 10–15 cm. long and 1–2 cm. broad, cordate and amplexicaul, acuminate, glabrous or scaberulous, the veins transversely connected; ligule hyaline, 0.5 mm. long.. Panicle oblong, 15–20 cm. long and 10–15 cm. wide, the branches at first ascending, later spreading.. Spikelets narrowly oblong, 7–14 mm. long and 2 mm. wide (but sometimes much shorter and only 2–3-flowered in poorly developed panicles), borne on slender pedicels a few mm. long; glumes 1.5–2 mm. long, 3-nerved, similar to the lemmas in shape and texture; lemmas ovate in side view, broadly elliptic when flattened, 2–2.5 mm. long, with broad hyaline margins, obtuse or emarginate, with or without a mucro up to 0.3 mm. long; palea elliptic, ciliolate on the keels.. Fig. 52, p. 162.
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Leaves usually densely crowded around the base, distant along the culms; sheaths somewhat tight when young, later lax and slipping off the culm, keeled, striate, glabrous and smooth; lamina (5)9-10(15) x (0.8)1.25-2(3) cm., lanceolate, broadly lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, tapering to a fine point, base auriculate or broadly rounded, inconspicuously puberulous on both surfaces but soon becoming glabrous, scaberulous along the edges, otherwise smooth.
Panicle 12-35 x 5-25 cm., usually lax and open, broadly elliptic or obovate in outline, erect, often partly enclosed in the sheath of the uppermost leaf; main axis obtusely angular or sulcate, asperulous along the ridges, glabrous; branches up to 18 cm. long, spreading or obliquely ascending, usually rather lax, branched from near the base, the subdivisions filiform, asperulous.
Tufted annual or weak perennial up to 900 mm high; sometimes stoloniferous; culms decumbent, rooting at the lower nodes. Leaf blade 60-120 x 10-25 mm, broadly lanceolate, apex acuminate, base cordate; margins scaberulous; cross-veins conspicuous. Inflorescence 100-350 mm long, open; pedicel up to 25(35) mm long.Spikelet 7-15 mm long; anther up to 1.5 mm long.
Culms 30-110 cm. high, erect or more often decumbent, rooting and emitting shoots from the lower nodes as well, 2-5-noded, terete, finely striate, glabrous and smooth.
Glumes ovate when flattened; the inferior 1.5-2.3 mm. long; the superior 1.8-3 mm. long.
Lemma 2.2-3.5 mm. long, broadly ovate to very broadly elliptic-ovate.
Spikelets 9-21 x 2-3 (rarely-4) mm., oblong to linear-oblong.
Pedicels up to 15 mm. long, filiform, asperulous.
An annual or short-lived perennial.
Tufted annual 80–90 cm. high
Caryopsis c. 1.2 x 0.6 mm.
Anthers 0.6-1.4 mm. long.
Life form annual
Growth form
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.6 - 0.9
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

In forest shade.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture 5-6
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

Uses -
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Megastachya mucronata world distribution map, present in Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, United Republic of, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:407847-1
WFO ID wfo-0000878929
COL ID 3YZ79
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Centotheca urekana Eragrostis maxima Eragrostis mucronata Megastachya owariensis Poa mucronata Poa mucronulata Centotheca maxima Centotheca mucronata Centotheca owariensis Calotheca mucronata Eragrostis beninensis Eragrostis jardinei Eragrostis owariensis Eragrostis palisotii Megastachya maxima Megastachya mucronata Megastachya maxima Leersia disticha