Bulbostylis hispidula (Afrikaans: fynbiesie, "fine rush") is a plant native to South Africa, Eswatini, Botswana, and Namibia. The subspecies pyriformis can be found in all South African provinces except Western Cape. On the SANBI Red List, it is listed as "safe" (LC). The species has an almost pan-tropical range: Central and northern South America; western, central, northeastern, eastern, and southern Africa, and southern Madagascar. There are several subspecies with somewhat narrower rangers, but this is not completely certain. They grow everywhere from grasslands with a rainy season and deserts to dry grasslands and marshes along the coast. Bulbostylis hispidula is an annual or perennial plant with clumped seeds and a woody, fragrant root stock. The stem is 50–80 cm long and around 0.5-1.5 mm in diameter. The leaves are attached to the base of the stem. Sepals are light green and range from very hairy to almost bare. The leaves are 0.5 mm wide and less than 15 cm, often just 1–2 cm, long. The ovoid thorns are 4–15 mm long and 2–4 mm wide. The chromosomes are n=5.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Bulbostylis hispidula has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens8
Marker genes5
GenBank sequences7
eDNA detections7
Countries2
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK2★rbcL2★rbcLa★trnL★ITS3
plant barcodefungal barcode
06Genome at a glanceCCDB
The complete instruction manualBulbostylis hispidula carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Chromosomes2n = 10 n = 5
Chromosome-count records — grouped by value · 2n = full set, n = gamete · click a value for sources & references
n 52×CCDB · cyper-only · CCDB · book-ipcn67-71
CCDB · cyper-only — 15Kral, R.1971
CCDB · book-ipcn67-71 — KRAL, R. 1971. A treatment of Abildgardia, Bulbostylis, and Fimbristylis for North America. Sida 4: 57-227.
07Deep time~0.47 Ma lineage
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin0.47 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock origin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type774 records
Wild obs. + sensor109
Museum / vouchered660
Other5
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO1 856 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy57% within 1 km
≤100 m 7≤1 km 5≤10 km 2>10 km 7
21 georeferenced · 88 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor109
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy22% within 1 km
≤1 km 2≤10 km 6>10 km 1
9 georeferenced · 651 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence660
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions20 of 55 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Kew, GB
136
MeiseBGlocation not on record
111
Saint Louis, US
69
Durban, ZA
27
HNBlocation not on record
26
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
25
WAGlocation not on record
19
Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza (PBZT)location not on record
18
Embrapa Agrobiology Diazothrophic Microbial Culture Collectionlocation not on record
17
Plocation not on record
14
Pretoria, ZA
8
BRLUlocation not on record
7
Université National du Béninlocation not on record
7
Paris, FR
7
Bronx, US
6
LBVlocation not on record
5
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique / Institut de l'environnement et de recherches agricoleslocation not on record
5
Frankfurt am Main
4
Zürich, CH
4
Guasave, MX
3
Xiamen, CN
3
Berlin, DE
3
Herbier National du Gabonlocation not on record
2
Glocation not on record
2
GENTlocation not on record
2
Centre D'Etude sur les Ressources Végétaleslocation not on record
2
CJBGlocation not on record
2
Clocation not on record
2
MAlocation not on record
2
Yaoundé, CM
2
Uppsala, SE
2
University of Johannesburglocation not on record
1
South Kensington, GB
1
Addis Ababa, ET
1
National Museum and Art Gallerylocation not on record
1
Universidad Pablo de Olavidelocation not on record
1
Philadelphia, US
1
Chicago, US
1
Zürich, CH
1
Zlocation not on record
1
Mlocation not on record
1
Goucher Collegelocation not on record
1
University of Liberialocation not on record
1
Servico de Microbiologia e Imunologialocation not on record
1
Olocation not on record
1
BClocation not on record
1
LISClocation not on record
1
Forestry Research Institute of Nigerialocation not on record
1
Haramaya Universitylocation not on record
1
Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropicallocation not on record
1
EAlocation not on record
1
Fort Worth, US
1
University of Burundilocation not on record
1
National Museums of Kenyalocation not on record
1
Christchurch, NZ
1
55 institutions · 566 of 660 vouchered records shown · 93 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA7 detections
Where the DNA of Bulbostylis hispidula was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found7
Studies independent surveys1
Countries2
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 7 detections have coordinates
Open the map2 countries0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median20.2 °C 19.7–25.5
Seasonal swing summer↔winter9.30 °C
Max temp (day)26.5 °C 25.8–30.2
Min temp (night)14.3 °C 12.9–20.1
Precipitation59.3 mm/mo 35.9–103
Air humidity54.9 % 47.4–56.4
Moisture balance-67.4 mm/mo -107–-59.1
Vapour deficit1,264 Pa 1,115–1,480
Wind speed2.70 m/s 2.30–3.30
Cloud cover29.1 % 26.7–50.9
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 3 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation2 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility774 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI7 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics8 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗