Higher Taxonomy
Common Name: GRASS FAMILY
Habit: Annual to woody perennial herb; roots generally fibrous. Stem: generally round, hollow; nodes swollen, solid. Leaf: alternate, 2-ranked, generally linear, parallel-veined; sheath generally open; ligule membranous or hairy, at blade base. Inflorescence: various (of generally many spikelets). Spikelet: glumes generally 2; florets (lemma, palea, flower) 1--many; lemma generally membranous, sometimes glume-like; palea generally +- transparent, +- enclosed by lemma. Flower: generally bisexual, minute; perianth vestigial; stamens generally 3; stigmas generally 2, generally plumose. Fruit: grain, sometimes achene- or utricle-like.
Genera In Family: 650--900 genera; +- 10550 species: worldwide; greatest economic importance of any family (wheat, rice, maize, millet, sorghum, sugar cane, forage crops, ornamental, weeds; thatching, weaving, building materials). Note: Generally wind-pollinated. Achnatherum, Ampelodesmos, Hesperostipa, Nassella, Piptatherum, Piptochaetium, Ptilagrostis moved to Stipa; Elytrigia, Leymus, Pascopyrum, Pseudoroegneria, Taeniatherum to Elymus; Hierochloe to Anthoxanthum; Lolium, Vulpia to Festuca; Lycurus to Muhlenbergia; Monanthochloe to Distichlis; Pleuraphis to Hilaria; Rhynchelytrum to Melinis. The following taxa (in genera not included here), recorded in California from historical collections or reported in literature, are extirpated, lacking vouchers, or not considered naturalized: Acrachne racemosa (Roth) Ohwi, Allolepis texana (Vasey) Soderstr. & H.F. Decker, Amphibromus nervosus (Hook. f.) Baill., Axonopus affinis Chase, Axonopus fissifolius (Raddi) Kuhlm., Coix lacryma-jobi L., Cutandia memphitica (Spreng.) K. Richt., Dinebra retroflexa (Vahl) Panz., Eremochloa ciliaris (L.) Merr., Eustachys distichophylla (Lag.) Nees, Gaudinia fragilis (L.) P. Beauv., Miscanthus sinensis Andersson, Neyraudia arundinacea (L.) Henrard, Phyllostachys aurea Rivière & C. Rivière, Phyllostachys bambusoides Siebold & Zuccarini, Rottboellia cochinchinensis (Lour.) Clayton, Schedonnardus paniculatus (Nutt.) Branner & Coville, Schizachyrium cirratum (Hack.) Wooton & Standl., Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash, Themeda quadrivalvis (L.) Kuntze, Thysanolaena latifolia (Hornem.) Honda, Tribolium obliterum (Hemsl.) Renvoize, Zea mays L., Zizania palustris L. var. interior (Fassett) Dore, Zoysia japonica Steud. Paspalum pubiflorum E. Fourn., Paspalum quadrifarium Lam., are now reported for southern California (J Bot Res Inst Texas 4:761--770). See Glossary p. 30 for illustrations of general family characteristics.
eFlora Treatment Author: James P. Smith, Jr., except as noted
Scientific Editor: James P. Smith, Jr., J. Travis Columbus, Dieter H. Wilken.
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Cenchrus
Habit: Annual, perennial herb. Stem: 5--100(200) cm, erect or decumbent, generally bent; nodes and internodes generally glabrous; internode solid to spongy. Leaf: basal and cauline; sheath generally smooth; ligule short-hairy or membranous, ciliate; blade flat or folded, margins generally cartilaginous. Inflorescence: panicle-like, central axis wavy, with reduced branches bearing burs, each consisting of 1--4(8) +- sessile spikelets generally enclosed by an involucre of flattened or cylindric bristle- or spine-like, +- fused bracts, these generally forming an inner and outer set; involucre and enclosed spikelets falling as 1 unit. Spikelet: +- dorsally compressed; glumes strongly unequal, ovate, lower 1-veined, upper +- = florets, 3--9-veined; florets 2, lower floret sterile or staminate, lemma generally 5-veined, palea generally present, upper floret fertile, lemma thick, +- hard, palea +- = lemma; anthers 3. Species In Genus: +- 16 species: warm temperate America, Africa, southern Asia. Etymology: (Uncertain. Greek: for millet or Latin for a precious stone) Note: Cenchrus ciliaris L. is now treated as Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link. Jepson eFlora Author: James P. Smith, Jr. Reference: Stieber & Wipff 2003 FNANM 25:529--535 Unabridged Reference: Delisle 1963 Iowa State J Sci 37:259--351Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)Key to Cenchrus
Previous taxon: Calamagrostis stricta subsp. strictaNext taxon: Cenchrus echinatus
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Citation for this treatment: James P. Smith, Jr. 2012, Cenchrus, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=11009, accessed on April 19, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 19, 2024.
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