TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora. |
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY |
Annual to bamboo-like; roots generally fibrous
Stem generally round, hollow; nodes swollen, solid
Leaves alternate, 2-ranked, generally linear; sheath generally open; ligule membranous or hairy, at blade base
Inflorescence various (of generally many spikelets)
Spikelet: glumes generally 2; florets (lemma, palea, flower) 1many; lemma generally membranous, sometimes glume-like; palea generally ± transparent, ± enclosed by lemma
Flower generally bisexual, minute; stamens generally 3; stigmas generally 2, generally plumose
Fruit: achene-like grain
Genera in family: 650900 genera; ± 10,000 species: worldwide; greatest economic importance of any family (wheat, rice, maize, millet, sorghum, sugar cane, forage crops, ornamental, weeds; thatching, weaving, building materials)
Reference: [Hitchcock 1951 Manual grasses US, USDA Misc Publ 200; Clayton & Renvoise 1986 Kew Bull Add Series 13]
See Glossary p. 26 for illustrations of general family characteristics. Generally wind-pollinated.
Annual, perennial herb, cespitose or from stolons
Stem decumbent to erect, 18 dm; nodes visible, brown
Leaves: ligule 16 mm, membranous, truncate to acute, generally scabrous; blade flat, glabrous or scabrous
Inflorescence panicle-like, generally cylindric, dense; branches short
Spikelet ± compressed, breaking below glumes, falling as 1 unit; glumes ± equal, generally = spikelet, membranous, generally keeled, keel and lateral veins generally stiff- or appressed-hairy, margins free or fused near base, tip obtuse, acute, or short-awned, 3-veined; floret 1; lemma membranous, margins keeled, sometimes fused near base, truncate to acute, 35-veined, awned on back below middle, awn straight or abruptly bent generally at lemma tip; palea generally 0; anthers 0.54 mm
Fruit glabrous
Species in genus: ± 35 species: temp North America, Eurasia
Etymology: (Greek: fox tail)
Reference: [Rubtzoff 1961 Leafl West Bot 9:165180]
Native |
Perennial
Stem 1.45.5 dm
Leaf: ligule 2.55 mm; blade 28 cm, 14(7) mm wide
Inflorescence 1.56 cm, 47.5 mm wide
Spikelet: glumes 2.53 mm; lemma awn bent, exceeding lemma body by (1.5)23.5 mm; anthers (1)1.52 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=28
Ecology: Open, wet meadows, pools, shores, streambanks
Elevation: < 1550 m.
Bioregional distribution: Northwestern California, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Central Western California, Modoc Plateau
Distribution outside California: to British Columbia, e N.America., Eurasia
Synonyms: A. pallescens Piper
Variable. Plants from NW, CW probably naturalized.