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

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)
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.

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