Panicum massaiense Mez

Slender to robust annual; culms 30–150 cm. high, erect or geniculately ascending, usually much branched.. Leaf-sheaths usually conspicuously hispid, occasionally glabrous; blades linear, 10–25(–30) cm. long, 3–8(–13) mm. wide, straight or narrowed at the base, flat, glabrous to hispid, acuminate.. Panicle ovate to ovate-oblong, (6–)10–20(–30) cm. long, much branched, the branches fine and often flexuous.. Spikelets ovate, 2.4–3 mm. long, often purplish; lower glume broadly ovate, 1/2–2/3 the length of the spikelet, 1(–5)-nerved, acuminate; upper glume ovate, 5–7-nerved, acuminate; lower lemma 7-nerved, male, its palea well developed; upper lemma pale and glossy.