Cenchrus biflorus Roxb.

Global description
 
Cenchrus biflorus is a plant with long, tapered leaves. The ligule is membrano-ciliated. The lamina is scabrous on the upper side, dotted with a few long hairs towards the base. The inflorescence is a fake spike with glomeruli of 1 to 3 spikelets enclosed in an involucre of barbed hard and prickly bristles.
 
First leaves
 
The first leaves are alternate with folded prefoliation. Blade linear, 6 to 10 cm long and 3 to 8 mm wide. It is folded in narrow V. The ligule is membrano-ciliated. The sheath is hairless. The margin of the leaf blade bears some long stiff hairs in the lower part. The upper side is scabrous.
 
General habit
 
The growth habit is in small tuft, first spread then erect, allowing rooting at the nodes, at the base of the stems. The twigs branch at the nodes of the base. The plant can reach 10-90 cm in height.
 
Underground system
 
The roots are fibrous.
 
Culm
 
Culm is cylindrical, slightly compressed. It is smooth and hairless. The nodes are glabrous and dark in color.
 
Leaf
 
The leaves are alternate. The sheath is hairless, somewhat keeled but highly compressed. Ligule is membranous on 0.5 mm and ciliated on 1 mm height. The lamina is linear gradually attenuated in a sharp point to the top. The lamina is a narrow V at the base, then spread towards the top. It is 5 to 8 mm wide and 10 to 22 cm long. The margin is finely scabrous. The upper surface is finely scabrous along the veins and have at its base scattered hairs of 2mm long. Two small tufts of long hairs of 3 mm frame the membrano-ciliated ligule. The bottom face is smooth. Midrib forms a small rounded keel
 
Inflorescence
 
The inflorescence is a fake terminal spike, 2-15 cm long and 1 to 1.5 cm wide with thorny involucres more or less close to each other. The rachis of the inflorescence is angular.
 
Flower
 
The spikelets are solitary or grouped by 2 or 3, protected by an involucre of spiny bristles welded at the base in a plateau of 2 to 3 mm wide. These bristles are stocked, in their upper part, with small reflected and invasive hooks, while the lower part is abundantly ciliated. The inner bristles are 4 to 10mm long and arranged around the spikelets. The outer bristles are shorter and directed in all directions. The spikelets have two flowers. They are 4 to 6 mm long. The lower flower is usually sterile. The upper flower is bisexual. The glumes and lemma of the lower flower are membranous, translucent and are traveled by 3 green veins. The lower keel measures 1/3 the length of the spikelet. The upper hull is almost as long as the spikelet. The lemma of the upper flower is lanceolate, 4 to 5 mm long, with edges partially overlapping the palea. Both are papyraceous.
 
Fruit
 
The grain is elliptical, measuring 2 mm long. At maturity, the entire involucre fall, constituting the release member

C. biflorus is a species widely spread throughout tropical Africa.

https://www.gbif.org/species/5289734