Compilation
Oplismenus undulatifolius

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Name

Identification
Oplismenus undulatifolius (Ard.) Roem. & Schult. [family POACEAE ] (stored under name); Panicum barbifultum Hochst. ex Schltdl. [family POACEAE ]
Related name
  • Oplismenus africanus
  • Oplismenus hirtellus
  • Oplismenus capensis
  • Panicum barbifultum
  • Oplismenus simplex
  • Oplismenus undulatifolius

Flora

Entry for OPLISMENUS undulatifolius (Ard.) Roem. & Schult. [family POACEAE]
Herbarium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Collection
Flora of Tropical East Africa
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of Tropical East Africa, page 451, (1982) Author: W. D. CLAYTON and S.A. RENVOIZE
Names
OPLISMENUS undulatifolius (Ard.) Roem. & Schult. [family POACEAE], Syst. Veg., ed. 15, 2: 482 (1817), non P. Beauv. (1812), nom. nud. Type: Italy, Arduino (whereabouts uncertain).
Panicum undulatifolium Ard. [family POACEAE], Animad. Spec. Alt.: 14, fig. 4 (1764)
Oplismenus capensis Hochst. [family POACEAE], in Flora 29: 114 (1846). Type: South Africa, Knysna R., Krauss (FI, holo.!)
Panicum kraussii Steud. [family POACEAE], Syn. Pl. Glum. 1: 45 (1845), non P. capense Roem. & Schult. (1817). Based on Oplismenus capensis Hochst.
Oplismenus simplex K. Schum. [family POACEAE], in Engl., Glied. Veg. Usambara:48 (1894), nom. nud.
Oplismenus africanus (Hochst.) Stapf var. capensis [family POACEAE], in Fl. Cap. 7: 417 (1899)
Oplismenus africanus Stapf var. simplex [family POACEAE], in Fl. Cap. 7: 417 (1899). Type: Tanzania, Usambara Mts., Holst 2496 (K, holo.!)
Information
Perennial with trailing culms 15–50 cm. long. Leaf-blades narrowly lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 1–7 cm. long, 4–15 mm. wide. Inflorescence 2–8 cm. long, comprising 5–11 cuneate fascicles of 2–6 spikelets, or rarely the lowermost forming a short raceme. Spikelets lanceolate, 2.5–4 mm. long, glabrous to sparsely pubescent; glumes with smooth viscid awns, the longest in each fascicle 7–14 mm. long.
Range
DISTR. K3, 4, 7; T1, 3, 6, 7 warm temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, extending southward on the uplands of Africa, South Africa and India
Altitude range
(0)–1400–2500 m.
Distribution
KENYA Elgeyo District Kaibibich, 21 July 1969, Mabberley & McCall 60!KENYA Kiambu District Gatamayu Forest, 23 Feb. 1947, Bogdan 378! & 15 Feb. 1948, Bogdan 1503!TANZANIA Morogoro District above Hululu Falls, 19 Mar. 1953, Drummond & Hemsley 1685!TANZANIA Iringa District Lugoda Tea Estate, 4 May 1968, Renvoize & Abdallah 1929!TANZANIA Mt. Rungwe, S. slopes, 23 Mar. 1932, St. Clair-Thompson 1009!
Notes
O. undulatifolius intergrades completely with O. hirtellus, and to a lesser extent with O. compositus (Davey & Clayton in K.B. 33: 151 (1978)). Nevertheless the combination of spikelet clumps (rather than racemes) and long awns is characteristic of specimens from temperate regions, whose separation as an entity seems justified. It must be admitted that its boundaries are indistinct, and that depauperate inflorescences of the other two species may imitate it (which may account for several apparently anomalous coastal records).

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