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TRAGUS Haller
Plants hermaphroditic, stoloniferous, perennial or annual (ours). Culms erect or ascending or geniculate or mat forming,
glabrous; internodes solid, terete. Leaves basal and cauline, not distinctly distichous; sheaths terete, margins open; auricles
absent; ligules a ciliate membrane; blades flat, or folded, linear to attenuate, somewhat stiff. Panicles narrow
(spike like); primary branches short, divergent, spirally arranged, 2-5 spikelets with the upper 2-3 sterile or
rudimentary. Spikelets in clusters of 2-5, dorsiventrally compressed, disarticulation as a cluster, awnless, sessile or
subsessile; florets 1, reduced floret absent, callus glabrous, rachilla not extending beyond upper floret;
glumes 1 or 2, first veinless (reduced or absent), second 5-7-veined (veins inconspicuous), second glumes with 5 rows of
hooked spines on the back, very unequal, longer than first floret, glabrous, awnless; lemmas 3-veined, membranous,
glabrous, entire, awnless; paleas 2-veined, awnless, glabrous. Stamens 3; anthers pale yellow. Caryopses elliptical,
dorsiventrally compressed golden brown. Base chromosome number x=10.
A genus of about seven species, mostly from Africa. These species are disturbance species of tropical or
subtropical regions. These species are poor livestock forage.
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