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This page is based on the 1993 Jepson Manual.
Please see the Jepson eFlora for up-to-date information about California vascular plants. |
| Jepson Flora Project: Jepson Interchange |
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TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL |
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©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 |
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).[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 with rhizomes
Stems tall, erect
Leaves cauline; sheaths > internodes; ligule short, membranous or hairy; blades flat or folded
Inflorescence panicle-like, silky-hairy
Spikelet bisexual, in pairs; lower spikelet sessile; upper spikelet stalked; pair falling with subtending axis segment as 1 unit or stalked spikelet deciduous; glumes, lemmas long-tapered; glumes > florets, 35-veined; florets 2, lower vestigial, obscure, upper fertile; lemma awned or awn 0; palea < lemma or 0
Species in genus: 3540 species: tropical, subtropical, se Asia. Some ornamental, sugarcane (S. officinarum ) widely cultivated for sugar
Etymology: (Latin: sugar)
| Introduced |
Stems densely tufted, generally 24 m
Leaf: ligule < 1 mm, thin; blade < 12 mm wide, generally densely hairy near ligule, strongly serrate
Inflorescence plume-like, 2.56 dm
Spikelet 3.57 mm; stalked spikelet deciduous; glumes lanceolate, base densely silky-hairy; lemma awned, awn 35 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=20
Ecology: Ditchbanks, marshes
Elevation: < 300 m.
Bioregional distribution: s Sonoran Desert (Imperial Co.)
Distribution outside California: native to Eurasia
Synonyms: Erianthus r. (L.) P. Beauv
| YOU CAN HELP US make sure that our distributional information is correct and current. If you know that a plant occurs in a wild, reproducing state in a Jepson bioregion NOT highlighted on the map, please contact us with that information. Please realize that we cannot incorporate range extensions without access to a voucher specimen, which should (ultimately) be deposited in an herbarium. You can send the pressed, dried collection (with complete locality information indicated) to us (e-mail us for details) or refer us to an accessioned herbarium specimen. Non-occurrence of a plant in an indicated area is difficult to document, but we will especially value your input on those types of possible errors (see automatic conversion of distribution data to maps). |
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