Melica racemosa

Melica racemosa is a species of grass that is native to South Africa and Lesotho.

Description
It is perennial and caespitose with culms that are 30 – long. The leaf sheaths are tubular and have closed at one end. The leaf blades are erect, flat and 4 – long by 1.5 – wide with smooth surfaces. The membraneis eciliate. It has an open, linear, and secund panicle which is 7 – long. The main panicle branches are indistinct and almost racemose.

The spikelets are cuneate, solitary, and have fertile spikelets that are pediceled. It has an acute apex with a chartaceous fertile lemma with hairs that are 2 mm long. The spikelets carry 2–3 sterile florets which are cuneate, clumped, and 2 mm long. Both the upper and lower glumes are elliptic, keelless, membranous, and have an acute apex. The lower glume is 4 – long while the upper one is 5 – long. Just like the lower glume, the fertile lemma is elliptic, keelless, and is 4–8 mm long. The sterile one though is glabrous.

The flowers are fleshy, oblong, truncate, have 2 lodicules and grow together. They have 3 anthers with fruits that are caryopsis. The fruit is also have additional pericarp with a linear hilum.

Ecology
Melica racemosa grows on hills and mountain slopes. The flowers bloom from September to April.