North: Talaud, Miangas, Alt. 80 m; Manado, Alt. 50 m; Bolaang Mongondow, Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park, Alt. 220 m, 0
34’ N 123 54’ E. Central:
Luwuk, Batui-Seseba, Alt. 20 m, 1 10’ S 122
30’ E.
Habita t
Riverside gravel, aluvial flat near river, terrain level, open grassland, and sand.
Specimen examined Coode 5919 BO; Lam 3395 BO; Beguin 54 BO; Vogel Vermeulen 6856 BO;
Kjellberg 368 BO.
Tribe 15. PHAREAE Stapf. Fl. Cap.7: 319. 1898. Type: Pharus P. Browne. Civ.
Nat. Hist. Jamaica 344, pl. 38, f. 3. 1756. Leptaspideae Tzvelev. Komarovskie Ctenija Moskow Leningrad 37: 25.
1987. Pharinae Prod. Bot. Arch. 1: 212. 1922; Kew Bull., Addit. Ser. 13: 1-389.
1986.
Plants perennial. Blades broad, oblong to oblanceolate, nerves slanting obliquely from midrib with transverse connecting nervelets, narrowed into a false
petiole. Ligules scarious, margin ciliolate. Inflorescence monoeciuos, an open panicle. Spikelets unisexual, floret 1, without rachilla extension. Female spikelet
sessile, or shortly pedicelled, terete to inflated, disarticulating below floret; glumes scarious, persistent or not, shorter than floret; lemma papery becoming leathery,
involute or utriculate, 5- to more-nerved, entire, covered in hooked adhesive hairs; palea long, narrow; lodicules absent; stigmas 3. Male spikelet pedicelled, smaller than
lemma, lanceolate, deciduous; lodicules minute, or absent; stamens 6. Caryopsis oblong to linear, embryo very small, hilum as long as the catyopsis.
Key to the Genera
1.a. Racemes appressed; spikelets packing distantly, orbicular, cochleate; fertile lemma chartaceous; lemma lateral nerves ribbed, apex obtuse…......................
.....................................................................................................53. Leptaspis b. Racemes spreading; spikelets packing lax, obovate, urceolate; fertile lemma
coriaceous; lemma lateral nerves obscure, apex rostrate…….83. Scrotochloa Genus description and key to the species
53. LEPTASPIS R. Br. Type: Leptaspis banksii R. Br. Prodr. 211. 1810.
From the Greek leptos “thin”, and aspis “a round shield”, referring to the lemma of the female spikelet.
About 5 species, found in Africa, Asia, and Pasific. Plants perennial. Erect forest grasses. Monoecious. Ligule a ciliolate membrane. Blade nervation slanting
obliquely from midrib, with distinct cross nerves. Inflorescence a broad open panicle. Spikelets in pairs of small groups of short secondary branches, each spikelet with one
unisexual floret. Male spikelets terminal on each branchlet, with 2 short glumes, a broad, thin lemma and a narrower palea, stamens 6, no lodicules. Female spikelets 1-4
on each branchlet. Glumes enclosing the young spikelet but falling at flowering. Lemma forming an almost complete covering for the grain, its edges apparently joining
in their lower half, leaving a narrow opening towards the apex, through which the very narrow palea protrudes, style branching into 3 long feathery stigmata.
Key to the Species
1.a. Culms up to 50 cm long; ligule less than 1 mm long; panicle open, lanceolate, 15-20 cm long; primary panicle appressed, 1-nate, simple, 1-5 cm long
......................................................................................53.1. Leptaspis banksii
b. Culms up to 100 cm long; ligule up to 0.3 mm long; panicle open, ovate, up to 30 cm long; primary panicle appressed, 3-nate, whorled at most nodes, 5-15 cm
long ................................................................54.2. Leptaspis zeylanica 53.1.
Leptaspis banksii R. Br. Prodr. 211. 1810.
Leptaspis cumingii Steud. Syn. Pl. Glumac. 1: 416. 1854. Leptaspis formosana C.C. Hsu. Taiwaniana 162: 214. 1971.
Leptaspis sessilis Ohwi. Bot. Mag. Tokyo 56: 3. 1942. Leptaspis umbrosa Balansa. Bull. Soc. Bot. France 19: 326-327. 1872.
Plants perennial, erect, caespitose. Culms up to 50 cm long, 1 mm thick. Nodes glabrous, only seen at the base, the upper part covered by sheats; internodes up to 43
cm long, solid, glabrous. Sheaths 8 – 18–24 cm by 1.5-3 cm, glabrous on abaksial side. Ligule up to 1 mm, a ciliolate membrane. Blades up to 25 cm by 3 cm, inverted,
lanceolate, with pseudo petiole 3 cm long, margin slightly serulate, base cuneate, apex acute, the upper surface short hairy, the lower surface glabrous. Inflorescence 25 cm
long, a panicle, monoecious, with male and female spikelets in the same inflorescence; panicle 15-20 cm long; open, lanceolate; primary panicle branches appressed, 1-nate,
simple, 1-5 cm long. Spikelets in pairs; fertile spikelets pedicelled, 1 in the cluster, on
shorter pedicels than sterile; male spikelets pedicelled, 1 in a cluster; fertile spikelets comprising 1 fertile florets, without rachilla extension, orbicular, cochleate, laterally
compressed, gibbous, breaking up at maturity, disarticulating below each fertile floret. Glumes similar, persistent, shorter than spikelet, thinner than fertile lemma. Lower
glume ovate, membraneous, dark brown, without keels, 1-nerved, lateral nerves absent, surface pubescent, with hooked hairs. Upper glume ovate, c. 0.4 times length of
adjacent fertile lemma, membranous, dark brown, without keels, 1 – 3-nerved, lateral nerves absent, surface pubescent, with hooked hairs, apex cuspidate. Florets: fertile
florets female. Lemma orbicular, gibbous, chartaceous, without keels, 5-nerved, lateral nerves ribbed, surface pubescent, with hooked hairs, margin closed except for
an apical pore, covering most of palea, apex obtuse. Palea linear, keels contiguous above a sulcus. Lodicule absent. Anthers 6. Stigmas 3, terminally exserted,
pubescent. Ovary pubescent all over. Caryopsis with adherent pericarp
Notes
Found in Eastern Asia, Malesia, and Australia.
Distribution at Sulawesi
North: Kajoewatu, Manado. Central: Borone Poso. South: Bone. Southeast: Sangona Kolaka, Alt. 150 m.
Habitat
Primary forest.
Specimen examined
Kjellberg 1152 BO, Eyma 3509 BO, Vuuren Noerkas 180, 181 BO; Kooders 19638
β BO.
53.2. Leptaspis zeylanica Nees ex Steud. Syn. Pl. Glumac. 1: 8. 1853.
