Jepson Herbarium
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Annual to woody per; 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 (rarely achene-like).
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). [Barkworth et al. 2003 FNANM:25; Barkworth et al. 2007 FNANM:24] 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 CA 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 s CA (J Bot Res Inst Texas 4:761–770). See Glossary p. 30 for illustrations of general family characteristics. —Scientific Editors: James P. Smith, Jr., J. Travis Columbus, Dieter H. Wilken.
Unabridged references: [Hitchcock 1951 Manual grasses US, USDA Misc Publ 200; Clayton & Renvoise 1986 Kew Bull Add Series 13]

Key to Poaceae

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.
± 16 species: warm temperate America, Africa, s Asia. (Uncertain. Greek: for millet or Latin for a precious stone) [Stieber & Wipff 2003 FNANM 25:529–535] Cenchrus ciliaris L. is now treated as Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link.
Unabridged references: [Delisle 1963 Iowa State J Sci 37:259–351]

Annual.
Stem: 1–5(10) dm.
Leaf: sheath 3–7 cm; ligule ± 1–1.5 mm; blade (4)6–20(35) cm, 2–10 mm wide, upper surface glabrous or hairy.
Inflorescence: 2–12 cm; outer bracts 10–20, cylindric, generally < 1/2 inner bristles; inner bracts 2–5 mm, flattened, generally erect, pubescent, fused below to form a spheric cup.
Spikelet: 2–3(4) per bur, 5–7 mm, lanceolate to ovate, green; lower glume 1–3.5 mm, upper 4–6 mm; lower floret sterile; lower and upper lemmas equal.
2n=68. Disturbed places, fields; generally < 700 m. s Sacramento Valley (Solano Co.), South Coast (San Diego), Peninsular Ranges, Desert;

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Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) [year] Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/IJM.html [accessed on month, day, year]
Citation for an individual treatment: [Author of taxon treatment] [year]. [Taxon name] in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, [URL for treatment]. Accessed on [month, day, year].

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Bioregions in which taxon occurs	Red area (if present) is the part of the bioregion lying between the upper and lower elevation limits of the taxon; markers link to CCH specimen records. If the markers are obscured, reload the page [or change window size and reload]. Yellow markers indicate records that may have georeferencing or identification issues.
Chart based on elevation range in Manual and elevations and coordinates of CCH records. Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria. Note: About half of the CCH records include both elevation and coordinates.	Map made in collaboration with Scott Loarie. Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria. View all CCH records   CCH collections by month Duplicates counted once; synonyms included. Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa. Blue line denotes Manual flowering time.