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 to perennial herb
Leaves basal and cauline; sheath closed, generally hairy; ligule generally < 5 mm, membranous, entire to fringed; blade flat to inrolled
Inflorescence generally panicle-like, open to dense; spikelet stalk generally stiff, rigid
Spikelet strongly compressed to cylindric; axis breaking above glumes and between florets; glumes unequal, generally < lower floret, lower generally 13-veined, upper 37-veined, back rounded to keeled, tip acute; lemmas faintly 59-veined, tip generally 2-toothed, short-pointed to straight-awned from between teeth; palea generally < lemma
Species in genus: ± 150 species: temp worldwide
Etymology: (Greek: ancient name)
Reference: [Stebbins 1947 Contr Gray Herb 165:4255; Wagnon 1952 Brittonia 7:415480]
Native species need careful study.
Introduced |
Perennial 45100+ cm, rhizomed
Leaf glabrous to sparsely scabrous; blade 512 mm wide, margin ± scabrous
Inflorescence 920 cm, ± dense; branches generally ascending to erect
Spikelet ± cylindric, glabrous to minutely scabrous; lower glume 59 mm, generally 1-veined; upper glume 610 mm, generally 3-veined; florets 510; lemma body 812 mm, 57-veined, back rounded, tip obtuse to minutely lobed, awn 02.5 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=28,42,± 56
Ecology: Meadows, ditches, fields
Elevation: < 2700 m.
Bioregional distribution: High Sierra Nevada (e slope), Outer South Coast Ranges, South Coast, Peninsular Ranges, Great Basin Floristic Province
Distribution outside California: to e US; native to Europe
Flowering time: MayAug
Cult widely for forage, revegetation after fire. Ssp. pumpellianus (Scribner) Wagnon with puberulent lemmas is native to nw North America, Rocky Mtns.