Cladoraphis (common name bristly lovegrass)[2][3] is a genus of African plants in the grass family, native to southern Africa.[4][5] Its phylogenetic position within the subfamily has not yet been resolved.[6][7]

Bristly lovegrass
Cladoraphis cyperoides
Botanical Garden in Kaisaniemi
Helsinki, Finland
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Chloridoideae
Tribe: Eragrostideae
Subtribe: Eragrostidinae
Genus: Cladoraphis
Franch.
Synonyms[1]
  • Eragrostis sect. Cladoraphis (Franch.) Pilg.
Species[8][9]

Both species occur along the coast of south western Africa. C. cyperoides occurs on coastal dunes from Angola all the way to the Cape peninsula. C. spinosa occurs on sandy flats from Namibia to Cape Agulhas and the Little Karoo.[12]

Cladoraphis spinosa is a spiny, bushy perennial up to 60 cm in height. Its leaves are lanceolate, rolled, rigid and pungent. Spikelets occur in rigid panicles, and primary branches are persistent, spiny, less than their own length apart, 6–18 mm long, and perpendicular to branchlets. It flowers in the austral summer months (August–May).[12]

References

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  1. ^ Tropicos, Cladoraphis Franch.
  2. ^ Fardenguides, Bristly Lovegrass, Cladoraphis Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine/
  3. ^ United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile, Cladoraphis Franch. bristly lovegrass
  4. ^ Franchet, Adrien René. 1887. Bulletin Mensuel de la Société Linnéenne de Paris 1: 673-674 description in Latin, commentary in French
  5. ^ Gibbs Russell, G.E., L. Watson, M. Koekemoer, L. Smook, N.P. Barker, H.M. Anderson, and M.J. Dallwitz. Grasses of Southern Africa (ed. O.A. Leistner). National Botanic Gardens, Botanical Research Institute, Pretoria, Republic of South Africa. 437 pp.
  6. ^ Peterson, P.M., K. Romaschenko, and G. Johnson. 2010. A classification of the Chloridoideae (Poaceae) based on multi-gene phylogenetic trees. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 55:580-598; doi10.1016/y.ympev.2010.01.018
  7. ^ Grassbase - The World Online Grass Flora
  8. ^ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  9. ^ The Plant List search for Cladoraphis
  10. ^ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  11. ^ "Kyffhäuser flora - Cladoraphis spinosa". www.kyffhauser.co.za. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  12. ^ a b Manning, John; Goldblatt, Peter (2012). Plants of the Greater Cape Floristic Region 1: The Core Cape Flora. Pretoria: Strelitzia 29- South African National Biodiversity Institute. ISBN 978-1-919976-74-7.