Melinis effusa Stapf

Straggling perennial; culms 25–60 cm. high, ascending.. Leaf-blades flat, 5–12 cm. long, 3–9 mm. wide, pubescent, slightly sticky.. Panicle narrowly ovate, 6–20 cm. long, moderately dense; pedicels scaberulous, with long white hairs near the apex.. Spikelets narrowly oblong, 1.3–1.8 mm. long, glabrous or sparsely pubescent; lower glume a tiny oblong scale 0.2–0.3 mm. long; upper glume straight on the back, firmly membranous, 7-nerved, obtusely bilobed or subtruncate; lower floret barren, without a palea, the lemma 5-nerved, bilobed or obscurely bidentate, muticous or with an awn up to 15 mm. long; upper lemma as long as the palea.