From the Greek allotrios “foreign, strange, stranger, alien”, allotereon “foreign” and opsis “resemblance”.
Approximately 10 – 15 species, Old Worl Tropics, Australia, Asia, India, tropical and South Africa. Perennial, herbaceous, unbranched, erect or ascending,
caespitose or decumbent, tuberous or not, forming tussock, tufted and hairy at the nodes. Shoots more or less aromatic. Ligule a fringed membrane. Sheaths mostly
basal. Auricle absent; internodes hollow. Blade rolled in bud. Plants bisexual, slender racemes digitate or subdigitate. Spikelets short-awned and paired or clustered; florets
2 and dissimilar, lower floret usually male, upper floret bisexual. Glumes dissimilar. Lower glume shorter than the spikelets. Upper glume ciliate on the margins. Upper
lemma shortly awned. Palea present, hairy to papilate. Lodicule 2, free and fleshy. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous. Stigma 2.
Forage, drought resistant, marshes, weedy places, open or shaded habitats, rain forest.
3.1. Alloteropsis semialata R. Br. Hitch. Contr. U.S. Natl. 126: 210. 1909.
Panicum semialatum R. Br. Prodr. 1: 192. 1810. Oplismenus semialatus R. Br. Desv. Mem. Soc. Agric. Angers 1: 185. 1831.
Bluffia eckloniana Nees. Del. Sem. Hort. Hamburg 1834: 8. 1834. Coridochloa semialata R. Br. Nees ex Lindl. J. Bot. Hooker 2: 97. 1850. Alloteropsis
eckloniana Ness Hitch. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 29: 128. 1916. Axonophus ecklonianus Stapf. ex Chiov. Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital. 26: 79. 1919.
Alloteropsis homblei Robyns. Bull. Jard. Bot. E’tat 93: 172. 1932. Alloteropsis gwebiensis Stent Ratray, Proc. Rhodesia Sci. Assoc. 32: 21.
1933.
Plants perennial. Culms up to 150 cm long, erect to geniculately ascending. Nodes bearded; internodes eglandular. Sheaths bearded. Ligule a ciliate membrane up
to 1 mm. Blades 12-45 cm by 2-8 cm, margin glabrous, apex acuminate, the surface scabrous, rough on both sides. Inflorescence composed of 2-4 racemes, digitate, 3-20
cm long. Spikelets solitary or in pairs. Fertile spikelets ovate, dorsally compressed, 5- 7 mm long, falling entire; pedicelled, 2-4 in the cluster; comprising 1 basal sterile
florets, 1 fertile florets. Glumes dissimilar, reaching apex of florets, thinner than fertile
lemma. Lower glume c. 0.6 times length of spikelets, ovate, membraneous, without keels, 5-nerved. Upper glume margins ciliate, apex acuminate, surface puberulous.
Rhachilla between floret extension 0.1 length of fertile spikelets. Basal sterile florets male, with palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret ovate, as long as spikelet, chartaceous,
without keel, 5-veined; margins involute, ciliolate, apex acuminate, 1-awned; principal lemma awn c. 2.5 mm long. Palea surface smooth, pubescent. Lodicules 2. Anthers 2
or 3, 0.3 mm long. Stigmas yellow, or purple. Styles 0.3 mm long. Ovary glabrous.
Notes
Africa, China, eastern Asia, India, Indo-china, Malesia, Australia. An unusual feature is the occasional presence of a minute rhachilla extension above the superior
floret. Distribution at Sulawesi
Celebes.
Habitat
Grassland, clay soil, savannah.
Specimen examined Elbert
3080 L.
10 . AXONOPUS P. Beauv. Type: Axonopus aureus P. Beauv. Ess. Agrostogr. 12.
1812. Anastrophus Schltdl. Bot. Zeitung Berlin 8: 681. 1850.
Axonopus Hook.f. Fl. Brit. India 721: 63. 1897. Cabrera Lag. Gen. Sp. Pl. 5. 1816.
Lappogopsis Steud. Syn. Pl. Glumac. 1: 112. 1855. From the Greek axon “axis, stem, axle” and pous, podos “a foot”, referring to the
stolons or to the digitate inflorescence. Approximately 100 species, tropical and subtropical America, Africa. Annual or
perennial; erect, stoloniferous or rhizomatous, caespitose, sometimes matforming, hebaceous; ligule an unfringed membrane; leaves oblong and blunt; plants bisexual,
inflorescence of spicate main branches digitate or nondigitate, racemes 2 to many; spikelets solitaire and dorsally compressed; floret 2, lower floret sterile, upper floret
bisexual; glumes 1 per spikelet, lower glume absent or suppressed, upper lemma hardened and obtuse, upper glume and lower lemma as long as spikelet; palea present;
lodicule 2 minute, free and fleshy; stamen 3; ovary glabrous; stigma 2.
Lawn grass, weed species, cultivated fodder, native pasture species, grassland, open grassy plain, sandy opened hillsides, evergreen forest, rocky dry ground, wet
sandy soil, open habitats, marshy areas, forest clearings, along a drainage ditch.
10.1. Axonopus compressus Sw. P. Beauv. Ess. Agrostogr. 12. 1812.
