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, cespitose
Stem prostrate or erect
Leaves generally basal; blade generally inrolled, with translucent line on both sides of midvein, generally wavy toward tip
Inflorescence panicle-like; spikelets generally only on distal half of branches
Spikelet: glumes ± equal, generally > floret; axis breaking above glumes; floret 1, generally ovoid; lemma finely striate, hairs brown, tubercled near neck-like tip, margins inrolled, fitting into grooved palea, awned; palea slightly > lemma, grooved longitudinally
Species in genus: ± 35 species: Am
Etymology: (Greek: falling hair)
Reference: [Parodi 1944 Revista Mus La Plata, Secc Bot 6:213310]