TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

POACEAE

GRASS FAMILY

James P. Smith, Jr., except as specified

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) 1–many; 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: 650–900 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). [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.

HOLCUS

VELVET GRASS

Dieter H. Wilken

Perennial, cespitose or from rhizomes, glabrous to velvety soft-hairy
Leaves generally basal; ligule membranous, truncate, puberulent; blade flat
Inflorescence panicle-like, ± congested
Spikelets laterally compressed, breaking below glumes, falling as 1 unit; glumes ± subequal, lower 1-veined, upper 3-veined; florets generally 2, lower floret bisexual, upper staminate or sterile; callus hairy; lemmas ± 2 mm, shiny, membranous, faintly 3–5-veined, lemma of lower floret awnless, lemma of upper floret awned near 2-lobed tip; palea ± = lemma
Species in genus: ± 8 species: temp Eurasia, Africa
Etymology: (Latin: a grass)

Introduced

H. mollis L.

CREEPING VELVET GRASS

Stems solitary to few, from rhizomes, ascending to decumbent, 3–8 dm; nodes soft-hairy, hairs pointed downward, internodes generally glabrous
Leaf: ligule 2–3 mm; blade 3–15 cm, 4–9 mm wide
Spikelet: glumes 4–5 mm, tan, tinged purplish, minutely scabrous on back, keel and veins short-hairy; lemmas 2–3 mm, awn bent to straight, 3–4 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=28,35,42,49
Ecology: Moist sites, ditches, lawns
Elevation: < 120 m.
Bioregional distribution: North Coast
Distribution outside California: to Canada, scattered in e US; native to temperate n Europe