Sporobolus festivus Hochst. ex A. Rich.

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Vilankulo, Inhambane, Mozambique

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Synonyms:	Sporobolus festivus var. fibrosus Stent Sporobolus menyharthii Hack. Vilfa festiva (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Steud.
Common names:	Fairy dropseed (English) Fibrous dropseed (English) Red dropseed (English)
Frequency:
Status:
Description:	Densely caespitose perennial without rhizomes or stolons; culms up to 60(70) cm tall, erect, unbranched; basal leaf sheaths firmly chartaceous, glabrous or ciliate on the margins, terete, eventually disintegrating in to a cushion of persistent, glabrous or thinly pilose fibres; leaf laminas 2–15 cm × 1–2 mm, usually involute, sometimes flat, smooth or scaberulous on the surfaces, scabrid on the margins, acute at the apex.Panicle 3–22 cm long, narrowly ovate, very delicate and diffuse, the branches capillary and tinged with red; primary branches not in whorls, smooth or scaberulous, eglandular, the spikelets evenly distributed.Spikelets 1–1.6 mm long, greyish-green or purplish; inferior glume 1/5–1/3(2/5) the length of the spikelet, oblong to narrowly ovate, nerveless, glabrous, obtuse at the apex; superior glume 1/2–2/3 the length of the spikelet, narrowly ovate, 1-nerved, glabrous, acute or cuspidate at the apex, the nerve not excurrent; lemma as long as the spikelet, narrowly ovate, acute; anthers 3, 0.6–0.8 mm long.Grain 0.5–0.7(0.85) mm long, elliptic to obovate, oblong in section.
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Worldwide distribution:	tropical Africa and southwards to South Africa and Namibia, tropical Arabia (Yemen)
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Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Literature:	Chapano, C. & Mugarisanwa, N.H. (2003). Plants of the Matobo District National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, Zimbabwe Page 34. Cope, T.A. (1999). Poaceae Flora Zambesiaca 10(2) Pages 192 - 194. (Includes a picture). Isaiah, A.M. & Komi, T. (2015). Grasses in the Botswana National Botanic Garden South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria Page 31. (Includes a picture). Jackson, G. & Wiehe, P.O. (1958). An Annotated Check List of Nyasaland Grasses The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland Page 61. Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 110. Roodt, V. (2015). Grasses & Grazers of Botswana and the surrounding savanna Struik Nature, South Africa Pages 190 - 191. (Includes a picture). Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 145.

Other sources of information about Sporobolus festivus:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Sporobolus festivus
Flora of Caprivi: Sporobolus festivus
Flora of Malawi: Sporobolus festivus
Flora of Mozambique: Sporobolus festivus
Flora of Zambia: Sporobolus festivus
Flora of Zimbabwe: Sporobolus festivus

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Sporobolus festivus
African Plant Database: Sporobolus festivus
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Sporobolus festivus
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Sporobolus festivus
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Sporobolus festivus
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Sporobolus festivus
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Sporobolus festivus
JSTOR Plant Science: Sporobolus festivus
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Sporobolus festivus
Plants of the World Online: Sporobolus festivus
Tropicos: Sporobolus festivus
Wikipedia: Sporobolus festivus