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<big>''[[Eragrostis plana]]'' Nees</big>
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Eragrostis plana'' (PROTA)}}
:Protologue: Fl. Afr. austr. ill.: 390 (1841).
:Chromosome number: ''n'' = 10
== Vernacular names ==
*Tough lovegrass, South-African lovegrass (En). *Eragrostis d’Afrique du Sud (Fr). *Capim chorão, capim teff (Po).
== Origin and geographic distribution ==
== Description ==
*Densely tufted perennial grass up to 1 m tall, without rhizomes or stolons; stem (culm) erect, unbranched. *Leaves alternate, simple; leaf sheath glabrous, strongly compressed, keeled; ligule a line of hairs; blade linear, 10–80 cm × 1.5–5 mm, flat or folded, glabrous, sometimes with punctate glands along the midvein. *Inflorescence a narrowly oblong to narrowly ovoid panicle 10–35 cm long, branches ascending or spreading; primary branches not in whorls, but sometimes loosely clustered, terminating in a fertile spikelet. *Spikelet on a pedicel 1.5–2 mm long, linear to narrowly oblong, 6–13.5 mm × 0.5–2 mm, 9–13-flowered, with bisexual florets; glumes unequal, the lower 0.5–1 mm long, the upper 1–1.5 mm long, keeled; lemma 2–2.5 mm long, keeled, membranous with prominent lateral veins, olive green; palea with slender keel, persistent; stamens 3, anthers (1–)1.5–2 mm long; ovary superior, with 2 stigmas. *Fruit an oblong to ellipsoid caryopsis (grain) c. 1 mm long. == Other botanical information ==
''Eragrostis'' is a large and taxonomically complex genus comprising more than 350 species mainly in tropical and subtropical regions.
''Eragrostis plana'' flowers from September to May. It has the C<sub>4</sub>-cycle photosynthetic pathway.
== Ecology ==
''Eragrostis plana'' occurs from 400–2000 m altitude in grassland on sandy soils and shallow laterite pans, in dry areas on wet soils around vleis and rivers. Its common occurrence in pastures is considered an indicator of overgrazing or too much burning.
== Management ==
== Author(s) ==
* M. Brink , PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
== Correct citation of this article ==
Brink, M., 2006. '''Eragrostis plana''' Nees. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. In: Brink, M. & Belay, G. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>. Accessed {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}.
