球穗草 qiu sui cao

Cenchrus granularis Linnaeus, Mant. Pl. 2: 575. 1771; Manisuris granularis (Linnaeus) Linnaeus f.; Mnesithea granu-laris (Linnaeus) de Koning & Sosef; Rottboellia granularis (Linnaeus) Roberty.

Annual. Culms tufted, erect, up to 60 cm tall, branched from base. Leaf sheaths loose, slightly inflated, keeled; leaf blades linear-lanceolate, 5–20 × 0.4–1 cm, coarsely hispid, base subamplexicaul, apex subacute; ligule ca. 1 mm. Racemes 0.7–1.5(–2) cm; peduncle often pubescent; rachis internodes 1–1.5(–2) mm. Sessile spikelet 1–1.5 mm, usually cream-colored at maturity; lower glume hemispherical, coarsely reticulate-rugose, pits shallow and separated by broad rounded ribs, the whole surface finely granular; upper glume hyaline below, thickening upward toward the crested apex; lower lemma hyaline; upper lemma hyaline, ca. 1.1 mm, upper palea as long. Pedicelled spikelet 1.5–2.5 mm, glumes with prominent green veins and whitish wings. Fl. and fr. Jun–Oct. 2n = 14.

Arable land, open grassy places; 100–1000 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [throughout the tropics].