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.
Perennial from scaly rhizomes, generally dioecious
Stems ascending to erect, stiff, glabrous, solid in X -section
Leaves 2-ranked; ligule membranous, fringed; blade flat or ± rolled, pointed, glabrous, generally deciduous at collar
Inflorescence panicle- or raceme-like; spikelets stalked
Spikelet unisexual; pistillate generally = staminate, compressed; glumes unequal, firm, awns 0, lower 3(5)-veined, upper 57(9)-veined; axis breaking above glumes and between florets; florets 320; lemma wide, 911-veined, awn 0; palea < or > lemma; keels minutely hairy
Species in genus: 36 species: Am, 1 sp. in Australia
Etymology: (Greek: 2-ranked, from leaf arrangement)
Reference: [Beetle 1943 Bull Torr Bot Club 70:638650]