麦黄茅 mai huang mao

Andropogon triticeus R. Brown, Prodr. 201. 1810; A. ischyranthus Steudel; A. lianatherus Steudel; A. segaenensis Steudel; Heteropogon ischyranthus (Steudel) Miquel; H. liana-therus (Steudel) Miquel; Sorghum triticeum (R. Brown) Kuntze.

Perennial from a tough rootstock. Culms stout, erect, hard, 1–3 m tall. Leaf sheaths keeled and flabellate at plant base, glabrous to hispidulous; leaf blades flat, stiff, 30–60 × 0.4–0.8 cm, glabrous to hirsute, apex acuminate; ligule very short, truncate, lacerate. Inflorescence a terminal raceme, sometimes with a few axillary racemes below it. Racemes 8–15 cm (excluding awns), 5–11-awned, 12–15 pairs of flat green homogamous spikelets below awned fertile pairs. Sessile spikelet 6–10 mm, dark brown at maturity; callus ca. 6 mm, pungent, densely brown bearded; lower glume linear-oblong, brown puberulous or pubescent, deeply grooved on either side of midvein; awn 9–16 cm, brown, column shortly pubescent. Pedicelled spikelet 15–20 mm, lower glume oblong-lanceolate, green, laterally asymmetrically winged, glabrous. Fl. and fr. Oct–Mar.

Mountain slopes. Hainan [S India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; Australia].

This is a tall, robust grass with racemes of large, overlapping homogamous and pedicelled spikelets with very long awns emerging from the upper part.